Younger Dryas-Aged Fluting, Cold, and Time Budgeting in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains

Abstract

We argue that variation in Younger Dryas-aged fluting in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains was primarily conditioned by cold-mediated time budgeting concerns. Foragers that lived in cold environments had more time to flute projectile points during prolonged periods of downtime relative to those in warmer, southerly environments. We show that fluting meets the expectations of a time budgeting model because (a) its frequency is negatively correlated with temperature and (b) it was most often executed in interior spaces, presumably during prolonged periods of downtime. Aided by a channel flake use wear study, we conclude that fluting was not functional in a purely economic sense. Rather, it was a form of practice, enacted by those for whom wasting time was of little concern.