Fluted Projectile Points Research Articles

Fluted Projectile Points: Their Age and Dispersion

The stratigraphic record shows Clovis projectile points to be restricted to sediments between 11,000 and 11,500 years old. Underlying deposits dating back 11,600 to 13,000 years are without evidence of human occupation. In the High Plains, overlying deposits dating back 10,000 to 11,000 years contain Folsom and Hell Gap artifacts and are without mammoth remains. The glacial history of Alaska, Canada, and the Great Lakes region indicates that, for the first time in at least 15,000 years, an ice-free, trans-Canadian corridor opened up approximately 12,000 years ago. Since Clovis points are distributed from coast to coast south of the Valders ice border, the abrupt appearance of Clovis artifacts in the stratigraphic record of the High Plains some 700 years later suggests that Clovis progenitors passed through Canada during Two Creeks time. If eastern fluted points (for example, Enterline) are older than Clovis points, the difference may be on the order of only a hundred or so years, not thousands. The change from Clovis points to Folsom points in the High Plains may be related to a marked decline in the mammoth population after 11,000 years ago, but whether or not man was a prime factor in the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna is a moot question. On the basis of new data and critical geological evaluation of dates obtained by the radiocarbon method a hypothesis has been offered to explain (i) the abrupt appearance of Clovis points in the stratigraphic record of the United States around 11,500 years ago, and (ii) the lack of a cultural continuum in the United States leading to fluted projectile points. Llano hunters, like the game they pursued, may have persisted longer in some areas of the continent (for example, Bull Brook) than in others, but if a Clovis site can be found for which good stratigraphic evidence supports a date earlier than the Two Creeks interstade, then correlation of this event to the opening of the trans-Canadian ice-free corridor is incorrect (see 41a). Such a misinterpretation of timing would not affect the explanation for the lack of Clovis progenitors in the United States. We must continue to look for an indigenous cultural continuum leading to Clovis points, but if such cannot be demonstrated in the conterminous United States, then it would appear that fluted projectile points were developed elsewhere. Clovis progenitors might best be sought in northern Alaska or the Mackenzie Valley. The interpretations offered here are based on new data and critical geological evaluation of dates previously obtained by the radiocarbon method. How valid these interpretations are can be ascertained only through careful scrutiny of all man-mammoth associations found in the future, to assure precise relating of dates, fossils, and artifacts to the stratigraphic framework. We must pay closer attention to stratigraphic detail if we are to make the fullest use of radiocarbon dating.

Fluted Points and Geochronology of the Lake Michigan Basin

Fluted projectile points of chipped flint have been found occasionally in Michigan and Wisconsin. Most, if not all of these, closely resemble the Clovis style of fluted point found in the west. There is some evidence indicating that the western Clovis points belong to a period older than 8000 B.C. A number of archaeologists, myself included, have assumed that the eastern varieties of fluted points are of approximately the same order of antiquity as the western points.

A New Earth-Shaking Machine

In the fall of 1954 the undersigned had occasion to investigate the discovery of an eastern fluted projectile point in an excavation being made for the erection of a flagpole memorial to the man who originated the Tadpole Club. In preparation for this expedition to a Boy Scout camp near the Delaware Water Gap we decided to build a motor-driven sifter. This machine has operated so well on this and succeeding trips that it seems to warrant a brief description.The accompaning sketch (Fig. 128) shows the basic principles. The screen, mounted at a slant on 1/4-inch thick plywood legs, is free to move back and forth due to the flexibility of the plywood. A little experimentation demonstrated that about 150 strokes was right for most sifting operations.

Some Fluted Projectile Points from Illinois

Fluted points, like many other artifacts, seem to be more common than previously thought. Once attention is called to a given item representative specimens are 'found in existing collections only waiting to be recognized. Smail (1951) has presented a discussion of many points of this type from the St. Louis area in Illinois.Recently several interesting specimens have been brought to the Illinois State Museum and are here illustrated, due to their unusual combination of attributes and location. The first of these (Fig. 57) was found in Fulton County in 1924 by the late Frank Aidrich of Bloomington, Illinois. It is lanceolate in shape, WA inches long, 114 inches wide about % of the length from the base, and lenticular in cross section. Its very delicate chipping produced parallel long flake scars running from each edge to the center. The base is ground on each side and across the bottom.

A Fluted Point from Costa Rica

In 1903 C. V. Hartman excavated archaeological materials in Costa Rica for Carnegie Museum and also purchased several local collections. In June 1950 the unpacking of a portion of the collection not reported by Hartman (1907), disclosed a fluted projectile point of dull black flint (Figs. 88, 89) with these measurements: length, A to B, 58 mm.; width, C to D, 32 mm.; maximum thickness, 5 mm. The point was made from a curved flake so that one face exhibits the fluting while the other retains the smooth, unworked original surface. The sides of both faces exhibit carefully controlled secondary chipping. The basal edge and the edges from C and D toward the base have been smoothed, either by intentional grinding or by the wear of successive rehaftings. Basal thinning is pronounced on both faces.