Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b95js Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-30T13:20:38.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Clovis Blades: An Important Addition to the Llano Complex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

F. E. Green
F. E. Green*
Affiliation:
Texas Technological College, Lubbock, Texas
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Gravel quarrying operations in 1962 at the well-known Clovis site north of Portales in eastern New Mexico uncovered important new evidence of Early Man. In February, a total of 17 punched blades was found after being mechanically exhumed and, on the basis of inferential evidence, these blades are assigned to the Llano complex that dates back some 11,000 to 13,000 years. The term “Clovis blade” is proposed for this new artifact type, which is discussed in detail. These implements, and the recent discovery of several blade-tools associated with the remains of four mammoths now being excavated by the El Llano Archaeological Society, lead to the postulation of a blade industry for the Llano complex; and evidence which indicates the persistence of the punched-blade technique up through Agate Basin times is presented.

On the basis of technology, distribution, and apparent similarities to Upper Paleolithic blade cultures of the Old World, the classic Paleo-Indian cultures characterized by fluted points are believed to represent a unique, late Pleistocene migration that is temporally, culturally, and spatially distinct from the extremely early cultures of the Pacific coastal regions.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , October 1963 , pp. 145 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antevs, Ernst 1935 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part II, Age of Clovis Lake Beds. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 87, pp. 304–11. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Antevs, Ernst 1939 Geology of the Clovis Sites. In “Ancient Man in North America,” by Wormington, H. M.. Denver Museum of Natural History, Popular Series, No. 4, pp. 185–90. Denver.Google Scholar
Aveleyra A. Deanda, Luis and Manuel, Maldonadokoerdell 1952 Asociacion de artefactos con mamut en el Pleistoceno superior de la cuenca de Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropologicos, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Decimo Tercero), pp. 3–20. Mexico.Google Scholar
Barnes, Alfred S. 1947 The Technique of Blade Production in Mesolithic and Neolithic Times. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 101–13. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bushnell, Geoffrey and McBurney, Charles 1959 New World Origins Seen from the Old World. Antiquity, Vol. 33, No. 130, pp. 93–101. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Byers, Douglas S. 1959 Radiocarbon Dates for the Bull Brook Site, Massachusetts. American Antiquity, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 427–8. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Chard, Chester S. 1959 New World Origins: A Reappraisal. Antiquity, Vol. 33, No. 129, pp. 44–9. Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, William T. Jr. 1938 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part VII, Pleistocene Mollusks from the Clovis Gravel Pit and Vicinity. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 90, pp. 119–21. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. II 1957 A Distinctive Artifact Common to Haiti and Central America. American Antiquity, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 280–2. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Cotter, John L. 1937 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part IV, Report on the Excavations at the Gravel Pit in 1936. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 89, pp. 2–16. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cotter, John L. 1938 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part VI, Report on Field Season of 1937. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 90, pp. 113–17. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cruxent, J. M. and Rouse, Irving 1956 A Lithic Industry of Paleo-Indian Type in Venezuela. American Antiquity, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 172–9. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Dumond, D. E. 1962 Blades and Cores in Oregon. American Antiquity, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 419–24. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Glen L. 1951 Prehistoric Wells in Eastern New Mexico. American. Antiquity, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1–9. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gladwin, Harold S. 1947 Men Out of Asia. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. New York.Google Scholar
Green, F. E. 1962 Additional Notes on Prehistoric Wells at the Clovis Site. American Antiquity, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 230–4. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haury, Emil W., Sayles, E. B., and Wasley, William W. 1959 The Lehner Mammoth Site, Southeastern Arizona. American Antiquity, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 2–30. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Howard, Edgar B. 1935 Evidence of Early Man in North America. The Museum Journal, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Vol. 24, Nos. 2-3. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Krieger, Alex D. 1954 A Comment on “Fluted Point Relationships” by John Witthoft. American Antiquity, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 273–5. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Krieger, Alex D. 1962 The Earliest Cultures in the Western United States. American Antiquity, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 138–43. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, Ronald J. 1962 The Paleo-Indian Tradition in Eastern North America. Current Anthropology, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 227–78. Chicago.Google Scholar
Okladniko, A. P. 1959 Ancient Population of Siberia and Its Cultures. Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 1, No. 1. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Okladniko, A. P. 1961 The Paleolithic of Trans-Baikal, edited by Chard, Chester S.. American Antiquity, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 486–97. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Patrick, Ruth 1938 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part V, Diatom Evidence from the Mammoth Pit. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 90, pp. 15–24. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Roberts, Frank H. H. Jr. 1935 A Folsom Complex: Preliminary Report on Investigations at the Lindenmeier Site in Northern Colorado. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 94, No. 4. Washington.Google Scholar
Roberts, Frank H. H. Jr. 1936 Additional Information on the Folsom Complex: Report on the Second Seasons Investigations at the Lindenmeier Site in Northern Colorado. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 95, No. 10. Washington.Google Scholar
Roberts, Frank H. H. Jr. 1962 1961 Excavations at Agate Basin, Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 7, No. 16, pp. 89–91. Lincoln.Google Scholar
Sellards, E. H. 1952 Early Man in America: A Study in Prehistory. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Sellards, E. H., Evans, Glen L., and Meade, Grayson E. 1947 Fossil Bison and Associated Artifacts from Plainview, Texas. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, Vol. 58, pp. 927–54. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Stock, Chester and Bode, Francis D. 1937 The Occurrence of Flints and Extinct Animals in Pluvial Deposits near Clovis, New Mexico, Part III, Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of the Late Quaternary. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 88, pp. 219– 41. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Suhm, Dee Ann, Krieger, Alex D., and Jelks, Edward B. 1954 An Introductory Handbook of Texas Archeology. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, Vol. 25, Austin.Google Scholar
Swartz, B. K. Jr. 1960 Blade Manufacture in Southern California. American Antiquity, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 405–7. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Warnica, James M. 1961 The Elida Site, Evidence of a Folsom Occupation in Roosevelt County, Eastern New Mexico. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, Vol. 30, pp. 209–15. Austin.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. and Phillips, Philip 1958 Method and Theory in American Archaeology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Witthoft, John 1952 A Paleo-Indian Site in Eastern Pennsylvania: An Early Hunting Culture. Proceedings, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 96, No. 4, pp. 464–95. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Witthoft, John 1954 A Note on Fluted Point Relationships. American Antiquity, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 271–3. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Wormington, H. M. 1957 Ancient Man in North America. Denver Museum of Natural History, Popular Series, No. 4. Denver.Google Scholar
Wormington, H. M. 1962 A Survey of Early American Prehistory. American Scientist, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 230-42. Easton.Google Scholar