A term describing the persistence in a given area over a period of time in individual attributes, artifact types, or technologies; a culture that exists for an extended period of time and usually over an extended area. An example is the chopping-tool tradition of South Asia. A tradition is also a series of archaeological phases or cultures that share cultural similarities. In American terminology, it is a sequence of cultures or pottery styles which develop out of each other and form a continuum in time. The term is used especially to designate specific New World cultures such as the Arctic Small Tool Tradition, Big Game (Hunting) Tradition, Mississippi(an) Tradition, Woodland Tradition, and Desert Tradition. The attributes, styles, traits, or technologies develop continuously, thus forming an easily accounted-for series of advancements. There are problems with the use of this term: where an industry is described as belonging to one culture with the tradition of another (e.g., Mousterian of Acheulian tradition for flint industries), it is unclear as to what is implied about the relationship of the two industries.