Clovis point

Clovis points are the characteristically fluted projectile points associated with the New World Clovis culture, a prehistoric Paleo-American culture. They are present in dense concentrations across much of North America and they are largely restricted to the north of South America. There are slight differences in points found in the Eastern United States sometimes leading them to be called "Clovis-like". Clovis points date to the Early Paleoindian period, with all known points dating from roughly 13,400–12,700 years ago (11,500 to 10,800 C14 years BP). As an example, Clovis remains at the Murry Springs Site date to around 12,900 calendar years ago (10,900 ± 50 C14 years BP). Clovis fluted points are named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where examples were first found in 1929 by Ridgely Whiteman. A typical Clovis point is a medium to large lanceolate point with sharp edges, a third of an inch thick, one to two inches wide, and about long. Sides are parallel to convex, and exhibit careful pressure flaking along the blade edge. The broadest area is towards the base which is distinctly concave with concave grooves called "flutes" removed from one or, more commonly, both surfaces of the blade. The lower edges of the blade and base are ground to dull edges for hafting. There is debate about how Clovis points were used.…

Clovis points are the characteristically fluted projectile points associated with the New World Clovis culture, a prehistoric Paleo-American culture. They are present in dense concentrations across much of North America and they are largely restricted to the north of South America. There are slight differences in points found in the Eastern United States sometimes leading them to be called "Clovis-like". Clovis points date to the Early Paleoindian period, with all known points dating from roughly 13,400–12,700 years ago (11,500 to 10,800 C14 years BP). As an example, Clovis remains at the Murry Springs Site date to around 12,900 calendar years ago (10,900 ± 50 C14 years BP). Clovis fluted points are named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where examples were first found in 1929 by Ridgely Whiteman. A typical Clovis point is a medium to large lanceolate point with sharp edges, a third of an inch thick, one to two inches wide, and about long. Sides are parallel to convex, and exhibit careful pressure flaking along the blade edge. The broadest area is towards the base which is distinctly concave with concave grooves called "flutes" removed from one or, more commonly, both surfaces of the blade. The lower edges of the blade and base are ground to dull edges for hafting. There is debate about how Clovis points were used. Originally it was assumed that they were used in a thrusting spear. Later suggestions arose that the points had been used as throwing spears, either as is or with spear thrower (atlatl) which technically would be considered darts, or as a braced weapon (pike). It is also possible the points were used in the animal butchering process. Around 10,000 years before present, a new type of fluted projectile point called Folsom appeared in archaeological deposits, and Clovis-style points disappeared from the continental United States. Most Folsom points are shorter in length than Clovis points and exhibit longer flutes and different pressure flaking patterns. This is particularly easy to see when comparing the unfinished preforms of Clovis and Folsom points. Analysis of radiocarbon dates suggests that the Haskett Projectile Point is contemporary with Clovis and Folsom points. ===Caches=== Clovis points, along with other stone and bone/ivory tools, have been identified in over two dozen artifact caches. These caches range from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and Northwest United States. While the Anzick cache is associated with a child burial, the majority of caches appear to represent anticipatory material storage at strategic locations on the Pleistocene landscape. In May 2008, a major Clovis cache, now called the Mahaffey Cache, was found in Boulder, Colorado, with 83 Clovis stone tools though no actual Clovis Points. The tools were found to have traces of horse and cameloid protein. They were dated to 13,000 to 13,500 YBP, a date confirmed by sediment layers in which the tools were found and the types of protein residues found on the artifacts. The Fenn cache is an important collection of 56 items of uncertain provenance but that was probably discovered in 1902 "near the area where Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho meet" and was acquired by Forrest Fenn in 1988. There is current debate on whether "assemblages", production debris typically found in Clovis sites (blade cores, large bifacial overface flakes, etc.) but without actual projectile points, actually date to the Clovis period or to later periods. ==Origins== Whether Clovis toolmaking technology was developed in the Americas in response to megafauna hunting or originated through influences from elsewhere is an open question among archaeologists. Lithic antecedents of Clovis points have not been found in northeast Asia, from where the first human inhabitants of the Americas originated in the current consensus of archaeology. Some archaeologists have argued that similarities between points produced by the Solutrean culture in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe suggest that the technology was introduced by hunters traversing the Atlantic ice-shelf and suggests that some of the first American humans were European (the Solutrean hypothesis). However, this hypothesis is not well-accepted as other archaeologists have pointed out that Solutrean and Clovis lithic technologies are technologically distinct (e.g. a lack of distinctive flutes in Solutrean technology), there is no genetic evidence for European ancestry in Indigenous North Americans, and the proposed Solutrean migration route was likely unsuitable. ==See also== Barnes projectile point Beaver Lake point Cascade point Cumberland point Eden point Golondrina point Goshen point Plainview point Plano point Simpson point Suwannee point East Wenatchee Clovis Site ==Further reading== Buchanan, Briggs, O’Brien, Michael J. and Collard, Mark, "Continent-wide or region-specific? A geometric morphometrics-based assessment of variation in Clovis point shape", Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 145-162, 2014 Collins, Michael B., "Clovis Blade Technology", University of Texas Press, Austin, 1999 Di Peso, Charles C., "Clovis Fluted Points from Southeastern Arizona", American Antiquity 19, pp. 82–85, 1953 Eren, Metin I., et al., "North American Clovis point form and performance II: An experimental assessment of point, haft, and shaft durability", Lithic Technology 47.1, pp. 38–51, 2022 Eren, Metin I., et al., "North American Clovis Point Form and Performance IV: An Experimental Assessment of Knife Edge Effectiveness and Wear", Lithic Technology, pp. 1–12, 2013 Frison, George C., "Experimental Use of Clovis Weaponry and Tools on African Elephants", American Antiquity, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 766–84. 1989 Greene, F. E., "The Clovis Blades: An Important Addition to the Llano Complex", American Antiquity 29, pp. 145–165, 1963 Haynes, C. Vance, "Distribution of Clovis Points in Arizona and the Clovis Exploration of the State, 11,000 B.C.", Kiva, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 343–67, 2011 Hesse, India S., "A Reworked Clovis Point near Chevelon Ruin, Arizona", Kiva, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 83–88, 1995 Holen, Steven R., "Clovis Projectile Points and Preforms in Nebraska: Distribution and Lithic Sources", Current Research in the Pleistocene 20, pp. 31–33, 2003 Lawrence J. Jackson, "A Clovis Point from South Coastal Chile", Current Research in the Pleistocene 12, pp. 21–23, 1995 [https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10324782 Mika, Anna, et al., "North American Clovis point form and performance III: An experimental assessment of knife cutting efficiency", Lithic Technology 47.3, pp. 203–220, 2020 Morrow, Juliet E., "Clovis projectile point manufacture: a perspective from the Ready/Lincoln Hills site, 11JY46, Jersey County, Illinois.", Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 167–91, 1995 Peck, Rodney M., "Clovis Points of Early Man in North Carolina", The Piedmont Journal of Archaeology 6, pp. 1–22, 1988 Peck, Rodney M., "Unique Features of an Unusual Large North Carolina Clovis Point", Central States Archaeological Journal, vol. 51, no. 4, 2004 Prasciunas, Mary M., "Mapping Clovis: Projectile Points, Behavior, and Bias", American Antiquity, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 107–26, 2011

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