With the means to tell time, archaeologists could identify different cultures, most simply defined as different ways of life. And they could study why cultures changed. In Illinois, archaeologists divide the ancient past into several cultures expressed in the following general framework. Paleo-Indian is from the Greek word, palaio, meaning ancient. Archaic is from the Greek word, arkhaikos, meaning old fashioned.
Archaeologists use the word to refer to a way of life prior to the widespread use of pottery.
Woodland refers to a way of life that developed in the woodlands east of the Mississippi River. And Mississippian refers to a different way of life that appears in the Mississippi River valley. Protohistory is the study of a culture just prior to its earliest recorded history. The Historic Period begins with the arrival of French explorers, Pere Marquette and Louis Jolliet, in 1673.