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
Mesoamerican Archaic period seasonally by largely mobile peoples in the Early and Middle Archaic periods. Based on the presence of specific plants, the rock shelter was inhabited during the wet season from July to September, then in the Archaic period, around 4700 BCE, from May to October. Some of the earliest known villages appear along sea coasts, specifically the Chiapas and Caribbean coasts. It is likely that the abundant sea and lagoon resources could easily support long-term, year-round settlements, leading people to settle first in these areas. Shell mounds in these areas are highly visible, which likely aided in their identification by scholars.