Classical element to use the term "element (στοιχεῖον, "stoicheion")" in reference to air, fire, earth, and water. The ancient Greek word for element, "stoicheion" (from "stoicheo", "to line up") meant "smallest division (of a sun-dial), a syllable", as the composing unit of an alphabet it could denote a letter and the smallest unit from which a word is formed. A similar alphabetic metaphor may be the origin of the equivalent Latin word "elementum" (from which the English word comes), possibly based on the names of the letters 'l', 'm', and 'n', though the validity of this idea is debated. In his "On
Archaic Southwest Archaic Southwest The Archaic Southwest was the culture of the southwestern United States between 6500 BC and 200 AD (approximately). The Paleo-Indian tradition before that dates from 10,500 BC to 7500 BC. The Southwestern United States during the Archaic time frame can be identified or defined culturally in two separate ways: As the climate warmed at the end of the Ice Age, mammoths and large animals such as horses and camels began to disappear. Hunter/gatherers gradually adapted to these changes, supplementing their diet with a variety of plant foods and smaller game. The Archaic people used nets and the atlatl