Cochise tradition

The Cochise tradition (also Cochise culture) is the southern archeological tradition of the four Southwestern Archaic traditions, in the present-day Southwestern United States.

The Cochise tradition lasted nearly five millennia, from circa 5000 until circa 200 BC. Its earliest manifestation is known as Sulphur Spring; its two later phases, the Chiricahua and San Pedro, are much better known. The Cochise tradition was named after Lake Cochise, an ancient lake now found in the Willcox Playa of Cochise County, Arizona. The Cochise tradition appears to be ancestral to the prehistoric Mogollon (Mimbres) and Hohokam traditions.

The Cochise tradition is part of the Picosa culture, which encapsulates the Archaic lifestyles of people from three locations with interconnected artifacts and lifestyles. It was named by Cynthia Irwin-Williams in the 1960s for those areas: Pinto Basin (PI), Cochise tradition (CO), and San Jose (SA), which together are called "Picosa".