Clovis biface technology at the Topper site,South Carolina: evidence for variation and technological flexibility

The Topper site in the South Atlantic Coastal Plain of South Carolina provides a rare glimpse of the entire range of Clovis tool manufacture. Topper is a quarry-related site along the Savannah River with an outcrop of Coastal Plain chert and a buried Clovis component. This paper focuses on the 174 bifaces and diagnostic debitage from recent excavations to understand biface production at Topper. I present the process of manufacture then measure the variation in production characteristics at the site in terms of our current knowledge of Clovis biface technology. I conclude that Topper flintknappers used reduction strategies typical of Clovis-period tool production but created a biface assemblage with greater flexibility in design than documented at most other Clovis sites. This variation in biface production suggests greater variability in Clovis behavior across America—Clovis groups adapted to local resource conditions and adjusted the organization of their technology accordingly.     

Context and spatial organization of the Clovis assemblage from the Topper site,South Carolina

Abstract

This paper reports results of a 40 sq m block excavation of the Clovis assemblage from the Topper site, South Carolina. Topper is one of only three buried, extensively excavated Clovis quarry-related sites in North America. The Clovis assemblage was recovered in a buried component distinct from overlying Archaic and Woodland components. The site geomorphology and formation processes and the horizontal distribution of the assemblage are used to identify a workshop floor with discrete knapping loci created by unique production and use goals. The excavated assemblage from Topper provides useful and important information in order to reinterpret the Clovis occupation of the Southeast. Moreover, spatial patterning from Topper shows Clovis people organized and structured onsite activities at quarry-related sites.     

Pre-Clovis in Texas? A critical assessment of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex”

Lithic artifacts from the lowest strata of the Debra L. Friedkin site, located on Buttermilk Creek in central Texas, have been interpreted as an undisturbed pre-Clovis assemblage (Waters et al., 2011a). Stone tools and debitage were recovered from sediments stratified just below diagnostic Clovis artifacts and dated by OSL to between 13.2 and >15.5 cal kya. Invoking commonly observed cultural and natural site formation processes, we offer an alternative explanation of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex” as a Clovis assemblage in secondary association with the dated sediments.     

Clovis Hunting and Large Mammal Extinction: A Critical Review of the Evidence

The North American archaeological phenomenon known as Clovis is famous for the fact that a number of sites that contain diagnostic Clovis artifacts also contain the remains of mammoth and perhaps other extinct genera. In the past, this has led many to assume that Clovis subsistence adaptations were organized around large, now-extinct mammals. It has also seemed to support the argument that the colonization of the Americas by hunters about 11,500 years ago caused the extinction, either directly or indirectly, of some 35 genera of primarily large mammals. Here, we review all sites known to us that have been suggested to provide evidence for the association of Clovis-age archaeological material with the remains of now-extinct Pleistocene mammals. Of the 76 sites reviewed, only 14 provide strong evidence that Clovis-aged people hunted such mammals. Of these sites, 12 contain the remains of mammoth, while two contain the remains of mastodon. Although the prime focus of the analysis we present is on Clovis-age archaeological associations with now-extinct mammals, we conclude that there is no evidence provided by the North American archaeological record to support the argument that people played a significant role in causing Pleistocene extinctions here.     

Clovis Blades at Paleo Crossing (33ME274), Ohio

Abstract

This paper describes the previously undocumented Paleoindian lithic blade assemblage from the Paleo Crossing Site, Ohio (33ME274). Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the Paleo Crossing blade assemblage to blade assemblages from other Paleoindian sites demonstrates its fragmented and utterly exhausted nature, but support its designation as Clovis. This is significant given that a majority of the Paleo Crossing toolstone outcrops 600 km southwest of the site in southern Indiana and western Kentucky, a prominent locale for Clovis prismatic blade manufacture. We propose that blade reduction was practiced for prolonging the use-life of distally retouched endscrapers, a prominent tool form at Paleo Crossing. Since use-wear and ethnographic evidence often show that endscrapers were used for hide-working, Paleo Crossing may be an appropriate venue to test for the presence of intense caribou hide-working.     

Rare animals at a Mississippian chiefly compound: the Irene Mound site (9CH1), Georgia,USA

ABSTRACT

The Irene Mound site (9CH1) was a Middle and Late Mississippian site (ca. AD 1150–1450) situated on a bluff overlooking the lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA), a few kilometers upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. The 2.4 ha site consisted of a sequence of superimposed layers referred to as temple mounds, as well as a burial mound, a rotunda, a few residences, and other structures. It is interpreted as the residence of a chiefly lineage. The presence of animals rare or absent in other precolonial coastal assemblages distinguishes the Irene assemblage from others along the coast. Some of the animals exhibit atypical, even dangerous, behavior, others have elaborate feathers or fine fur, and many are notable coastal fishers. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) specimens in the assemblage are dominated by portions from the body. Irene may provide a zooarchaeological standard for assessing evidence of site functions and status in other coastal assemblages.     

Marine trophic levels targeted between AD 300 and 1500 on the Georgia coast,USA

The marine trophic levels targeted during Swift Creek (AD 300–700) and Savannah (AD 1200–1500) occupations at the Cathead Creek site (9Mc360) and at two sites from the Kings Bay Locality (9CAM171a, 9CAM177), coastal Georgia, USA, differ in a consistent temporal and spatial pattern. Vertebrate and invertebrate remains from these three coastal sites contain similar suites of estuarine animals. However, Swift Creek peoples at these distinct hydrological settings obtained more biomass from fishes and less from molluscs compared to the subsequent Savannah occupants. The two Swift Creek faunal collections are less rich, more diverse, and more equitable than the two subsequent Savannah collections regardless of location. Furthermore, the mean trophic level is higher in the Swift Creek collections compared to the Savannah ones at both locations. These observations apply to both biomass and Minimum Number of Individuals. These differences likely are defining characteristics distinguishing the Swift Creek and the Savannah economies. More research is needed to determine the extent to which these temporal and spatial patterns are attributable to environmental and cultural variables.     

Origins of the first Americans: Before and after the Anzick genome

Recent analyses of the preserved ancient genomes of the Mal’ta boy and Anzick infant have transformed our understanding of Native Americans’ origins. The Mal’ta genome shows that about one-third of Native American genetic ancestry is derived from admixture, about fifteen to twenty thousand years ago, of East Asians with a now-vanished population of interior southern Siberia. Living Native Americans are demonstrably the direct descendants of the people who made and used Clovis tools and buried the Anzick infant in Montana ca. 12,800?cal B.P. The profound implications of these data for the origins of the first Americans should be obvious. However, as evidenced by the books reviewed here, archaeologists appear largely unaware of these data and their now-standard but unsubstantiated narratives of pre-Clovis coastal migrations remain unaffected.     

Phenetics,cladistics, and the search for the Alaskan ancestors of the Paleoindians: a reassessment of relationships among the Clovis,Nenana, and Denali archaeological complexes

Clovis, Nenana, and Denali are the earliest well-documented archaeological complexes in the New World. Clovis has been found at sites throughout the lower 48 states of the USA and in parts of Canada but not in Alaska, whereas Nenana and Denali have been found in Alaska but not elsewhere in North America. In 1991, Goebel and colleagues reported phenetic analyses of tool types from Clovis, Nenana, and Denali. They found that Nenana clustered more closely with Clovis than with Denali, and concluded from this that Nenana was likely ancestral to Clovis. Goebel et al.'s study has been cited frequently since it was published, and their conclusions have been widely accepted. Here we explain why analyses of the type performed by Goebel et al. are problematic and also demonstrate empirically that their results are dependent on the algorithm and distance measure used. We then reanalyze their dataset with a technique from biology called cladistics. Cladistics has replaced phenetics as the method of choice for reconstructing evolutionary relationships in biology, because it is more objective. The results of this analysis differ from those obtained by Goebel and colleagues. The results strongly suggest that Denali and Clovis are in fact more closely related to each other than either is to Nenana.     

Clovis,Folsom, and Midland components at the Debra L. Friedkin site,Texas: context,chronology, and assemblages

The archaeological transition from Clovis to Folsom and Midland in the North American Great Plains coincides with the end of the Pleistocene and onset of the Younger Dryas. Comparisons exploring the adaptive changes that took place during this period frequently employ regional-scale approaches. The focus on regional-scale analyses largely results from the dearth of sites repeatedly visited by multiple early Paleoindian groups. However, regional-scale comparisons have the potential to overlook smaller-scale differences. The Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas offers an opportunity to study Midland, Folsom, and Clovis technology and site-use at a single site. This paper presents the context and chronology of the Midland, Folsom, and Clovis assemblages and a site-scale analysis of lithics from the Friedkin site. It is argued that point production and late-stage reduction were primary activities, and the use of bifacial cores for flake tools was important throughout these occupation periods. Site use at Friedkin differs from early Paleoindian occupation at the nearby Gault site and expands our understanding of settlement and technological organization in the region.     

Refuting the technological cornerstone of the Ice-Age Atlantic crossing hypothesis

The “North Atlantic Ice-Edge Corridor” hypothesis proposes that sometime during the Last Glacial Maximum, roughly 26,500–19,000 years ago, human populations from southern France and the Iberian Peninsula made their way across the North Atlantic and colonized North America. A key element of that hypothesis is the apparent similarity between stone-tool-production techniques of Solutrean peoples of Western Europe and Clovis and purportedly pre-Clovis peoples of eastern North America, most especially the supposed intentional use of “controlled overshot flaking,” a technique for thinning a bifacial stone tool during manufacture. Overshot flakes, struck from prepared edges of the tool, travel across the face and remove part of the opposite margin. Experimental and archaeological data demonstrate, however, that the most parsimonious explanation for the production of overshot flakes is that they are accidental products created incidentally and inconsistently as knappers attempt to thin bifaces. Thus, instead of representing historical divergence, overshot flakes in Clovis and Solutrean assemblages mark convergence in the use of the same simple solution for thinning bifaces that produced analogous detritus.     

A Model for Paleoamerican Coastal Zone Preference for the Atlantic Slope of Eastern North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum

Paleoamerican colonization models have emphasized the importance of coastal zones for provisioning hunter gatherers with a diverse range of subsistence resources. This article expands on recent research by Lowery et al. 2012, and presents a model to explain the distribution of Clovis points across the Atlantic slope of Eastern North America. Marine transgression since the last glaciation has submerged large tracts of the Atlantic continental shelf. Global bathymetric data was used to estimate the Clovis age shoreline from Delaware to Florida. Clovis biface data for modern coastal areas, obtained from the Paleoindian database of the Americas, was compared to the slope of the paleo-shoreline to predict coastal zone preference. Results indicate a relationship between point distribution and coastal zone type. Areas where major rivers with high-quality tool-stone intersect broad coastal zones served important roles to Clovis subsistence adaptations. The potential exists for early Paleoamerican sites along the continental shelf submerged beneath 55–75 m of the Atlantic Ocean. Modern coastal regions with high densities of Clovis points may serve as analogues for identifying earlier sites that have been submerged as a result of marine transgression.     

Sentinel Butte: neutron activation analysis of White River Group chert from a primary source and artifacts from a Clovis cache in North Dakota,USA

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was used to characterize the chemical composition of chert from a primary source in western North Dakota. Known as Sentinel Butte, this source is part of the Eocene-age White River Group (WRG), a widespread geological formation on the central and northern Plains. INAA results demonstrate that it is chemically distinct from other known chert-bearing WRG. Further, analysis of three bifaces from the nearby Beach Clovis cache site demonstrates that they are made of chert from Sentinel Butte, and most likely the other 55 White River Group Silicate (WRGS) bifaces in the cache are as well. Although Clovis caches typically are dominated by materials transported hundreds of kilometers, it is argued that the advance manufacture and caching of bifaces even a short distance from a source may be a highly effective tactic to reduce gearing up time and hence search costs associated with the pursuit of mobile game at the close of the Pleistocene.     

Clovis Lithic Technology: The Devil Is in the Details

Clovis is the best known early development in North America buts its lithic technology is poorly documented and often from animal kill sites. This evidence has been used to picture Clovis peoples as mobile, colonizing, big-game hunters and explanations of lithic technological practices have been framed largely in materialist terms. Increasing documentation suggests views about how the complex Clovis biface and blade production strategies relate to subsistence, land use, and specific kinds of mobility patterns are questionable and often difficult to test with archaeological data. We need to seriously consider the role of Clovis people's worldview in structuring their thought and technical actions.     

The Hogeye Clovis cache,Texas: quantifying lithic reduction signatures

The Hogeye Clovis cache is comprised of 52 late-stage bifaces, finished points, and knife/cores cached in central Texas. Because these artifacts were all likely made and cached approximately 13,000 years ago by one or a handful of knappers belonging to a single band with a shared Clovis cultural template, Hogeye provides a rare opportunity to investigate Clovis lithic reduction signatures. This paper builds on previous analyses and presents new methods for quantifying Clovis biface production signatures, including serial flaking and the timing of last overshot flaking. The results show that the Hogeye cache bifaces technologically and morphologically differ from other regional Clovis biface reduction signatures. Additional data is needed to determine whether these differences reflect individual knapping preferences or regional cultural signatures. The methods used and developed here are not Clovis-specific and could be modified and combined with other analytical techniques to identify reduction signatures in biface assemblages from other times and places.     

Fossil fruit identification by SEM investigations, a tool for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Dmanisi site, Georgia

Archaeological excavations and multidisciplinary studies at the site of Dmanisi (Lesser Caucasus, Georgia) have provided an assemblage of lithic artefacts and numerous palaeontological and human remains in a volcano-sedimentary context dating to the early Lower Pleistocene. The sieving of archaeological sediments from Dmanisi also yielded mineralised botanical macro-remains that were analysed according to a particular protocol. The use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allowed the comparison between fossil fruit remains and modern specimens, leading to a precise identification of the earlier. Seed remains recognised by this method belonging to several taxa from the Boraginaceae family as well as to the genus Celtis L., of the Ulmaceae family. The ecological requirements of these taxa suggest the presence of xeric conditions, a result that is in accordance with data obtained by faunal and stratigraphic studies.     

DEFINING HISTORICAL MATERIAL TRENDS AND CONSUMPTION GROUPS THROUGH ARTIFACT DENSITY

Artifact density is a useful yet overlooked analysis variable in archaeology. Drawing upon a sample of sites in the middle Savannah River valley, artifact density is used to identify diachronic consumption trends between the 1700s and 1900s. Analysis results illustrate the development of consumerism over time in the study area indicated by increasing material deposition at archaeological sites. Artifact density is also used to define consumption groups for different time periods. Within cultural resource management studies, the methods discussed in this article could be used to aid in site evaluation and serve as a systematic framework to guide archaeological testing and excavation.     

Flake scar patterns of Clovis points analyzed with a new digital morphometrics approach: evidence for direct transmission of technological knowledge across early North America

Clovis points are the principal diagnostic artifacts of a Clovis complex that spread across North America between ca. 11,050–10,800 radiocarbon years before present. Clovis may be the best documented Paleoamerican culture in North America, but much remains to be learned about the movement and interactions of Clovis peoples. Similarities among Clovis points from geographically diverse locations have led some researchers to suggest that a uniform projectile point technology existed across North America during Clovis times. Others have rejected this idea, proposing local and independent technological adaptations to different regional environments. To investigate these ideas, we used digital morphometrics to analyze 50 Clovis points from nine different contexts. First, 3D surface models of the points were created with a portable laser scanner. Next, these models were digitally cross-sectioned through both faces, yielding two-dimensional isoheight contours of flake scar patterns that reflect the original reduction techniques used to shape the projectile points. In the final step, the contours were transformed with elliptic Fourier analysis into Fourier coefficient series, and patterns of variation and symmetry were explored with principal components analysis. When compared to modern Clovis point replicas made by an expert knapper, the flake scar contours of the ancient Clovis points showed little morphological variation and a large degree of bifacial symmetry. Our results support the existence of a widespread standardized “Clovis” knapping technique, most likely transmitted through direct interaction between knappers from different groups.     

Still Bay and serrated points from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter,Kwazulu-Natal,South Africa

Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter is a long-sequence Middle and Later Stone Age site in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Jonathan Kaplan excavated the site and analysed the material in the 1980s as a rescue project. For many years thereafter the collection remained untouched, partly because of doubts raised about the stratigraphic integrity of the site. Using single-grain OSL dating we show that post-depositional mixing of sediment was restricted to time-specific, small-scale events. The OSL ages obtained for the Howiesons Poort and pre-Howiesons Poort are comparable to those of other southern African sites with unambiguous Howiesons Poort and Still Bay Industries. Based on morphological and other characteristics, we reason that the Still Bay is represented at Umhlatuzana, and announce the presence of a serrated point assemblage closely associated in time with the Still Bay points.     

湖北省天门市龙嘴遗址2005年发掘简报

2005年3-9月,在随州－岳阳高速公路建设中,湖北省文物考古研究所对龙嘴遗址进行了抢救性发掘,新发现一座油子岭文化时期的古城,揭示出同时期的其它各类遗迹97个,出土丰富的陶器、石器、玉器和稻壳等遗物。龙嘴遗址是湖北境内迄今发现最早的新石器时代古城遗址,其文化内涵较单纯,主要为油子岭文化遗存。龙嘴古城的发现,对研究汉水流域乃至长江流域城址的起源、分布规律具有重要意义。