"Archaic" is a generic adjective that can refer to several things from the past.

• In history and archaeology, it names an early period or archaeological culture preceding a 'classical period':
  • The Archaic period in Greece (c.800–500 BCE)
  • The Archaic stage in American archaeology
    • The Archaic period in southeastern North America
  • The Archaic period in ancient Egypt is more commonly called the Early Dynastic Period.

The term "archaic" is usually used in non-archaeological contexts more generally, to describe anything that is old and no longer used:

• In linguistics, it refers to an archaism
  • List of archaic English words and their modern equivalents
• List of archaic musical instruments