Clovis culture

Clovis culture is a prehistoric North American archaeological tradition best known for fluted stone projectile points, dating to roughly 13,000 years ago.

Clovis point: A fluted stone projectile point associated with Clovis archaeological sites. Its distinctive channel flakes are the culture’s most recognizable artifact.
Lithic reduction: The shaping of stone through deliberate removal of flakes to produce tools. Clovis points emerged through staged flake removal and precise finishing.
Peopling of the Americas: The migration and settlement of human populations across the continents of the Americas. Clovis once dominated explanations of when and how people first entered the continents.
Clovis-first debate: The archaeological dispute over whether Clovis people were the first inhabitants of the Americas. Evidence for older sites shifted the debate away from a single founding culture.
Fluting (lithic technology): A technique that removes a long flake from a stone tool’s base to create a central groove. Fluting distinguishes Clovis points from many other Paleoindian tools.
Pressure flaking: A stoneworking technique that detaches small flakes by pressing a tool against an edge. It could refine point edges after larger shaping blows.
Pre-Clovis culture: Archaeological evidence for human presence in the Americas before the widespread Clovis tradition. Pre-Clovis sites challenge the older claim that Clovis marks the earliest American occupation.
Younger Dryas: A sudden return to near-glacial conditions in the North Atlantic region about 12,900 to 11,700 years ago. Its timing overlaps proposed explanations for megafaunal extinction and changes in late Ice Age lifeways.
Blackwater Draw: An archaeological site near Clovis, New Mexico, with evidence of Clovis-era occupations and extinct fauna. Excavations here helped establish the archaeological culture’s name and defining associations.
Atlatl: A throwing stick that extends the arm’s leverage when launching a dart. Clovis points may have armed darts, though their exact hafting and delivery systems remain debated.

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