User:Yvette Dana/Clovis point

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Clovis points are the characteristically fluted projectile points associated with the New World Clovis culture, a prehistoric Paleo-American culture. They are present in dense concentrations across much of North America and they are largely restricted to the north of South America. Clovis points date to the Early Paleoindian period, with all known points dating from roughly 13,500 to 12,800 years ago. Clovis fluted points are named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where examples were first found in 1929 by Ridgely Whiteman.

A typical Clovis point is a medium to large lanceolate point with sharp. Sides are parallel to convex, and exhibit careful pressure flaking along the blade edge. The broadest area is towards the base which is distinctly concave with a concave grooves called "flutes" removed from one or, more commonly, both surfaces of the blade. The lower edges of the blade and base are ground to dull edges for hafting.

In the early 20th century, the history of the people in Americas was a constant argument. The only evidence left behind by the prehistoric people appeared to be the Clovis point. The Clovis Point seems to be an American invention, perhaps the first American invention. The Solutrean Hypothesis proposes that Clovis Points were found throughout North America since humans migrated from Siberia to Alaska via an ice bridge. However, data was presented that displayed pre-Clovis migrations to America.

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Clovis points are thin, fluted projectile points created using bifacial percussion flaking, chipping small parallel flakes off of both sides. To finish shaping and sharpening the points, they are sometimes pressure flaked along the outer edges. This results in concave longitudinal shallow grooves called "flutes" on both faces. They originate from the base and end one third or more up from along the length The grooves may have permitted the points to be hafted or fastened to the tip end of wooden spears, dart shafts, or foreshafts (of wood, bone, etc.). Clovis points could also have been hafted as knives whose handles also served as removable foreshafts of a spear or dart. There are numerous examples of post-Clovis era points that were hafted to foreshafts, but there is no direct evidence that Clovis people used this type of technological system.

Specimens are known to have been made of flint, chert, jasper, chalcedony and other fine, brittle stone of conchoidal fracture. Ivory and bone atlatl hooks of Clovis age have been archaeologically recovered. Known bone and ivory tools associated with Clovis archaeological deposits are not considered effective foreshafts for projectile weapons. The idea of Clovis foreshafts is commonly repeated in the technical literature despite the paucity of archaeological evidence. The assembled multiple piece spear or dart could have been thrown by hand or with the aid of an atlatl (spear thrower).

Clovis points tend to be thicker than the typically thin later-stage Folsom points with length ranging from 4 to 20 centimeters (1.6 to 7.9 in) and width from 2.5 to 5 centimeters (0.98 to 1.97 in).