Clovis points are named after the type site located near Clovis, New
Mexico. They were found associated with the remains of mammoth and other
extinct animal forms in gravels at the bottom of a Late Pleistocene
pond. This site is counted among the most important archaeological
discoveries of the New World. The series of culture layers excavated
from above the one containing Clovis material give the most complete
sequence of Early Man cultures yet found at a single site.
[Illustration: _Clovis_]
Clovis points are symmetrically lanceolate in outline and are broadest
near mid-section or sometimes nearer to the tip. Upper lateral edges of
the point body are slightly rounded. Lower lateral edges are commonly
straight or slightly rounded and they may taper somewhat towards the
consistently concave base. On some examples, the lateral edges near the
base may be gently recurved. Both the basal concavity and the lateral
edges are smoothed by intentional grinding. The characteristic flutes
were struck vertically from only one or from both faces. In the latter
case, they may not be of equal length. The longest flute usually does
not extend up further from the base than about half the length of the
point. Nonetheless, specimens are known on which fluting extends up
almost the entire length of a face. Flaking on Clovis points was
probably by direct percussion; lateral edges of some may have been
thinned by secondary pressure retouch. Initial flake scars on point
faces are irregular. Fluting was achieved by the removal of either one
or a series of long flakes parallel to the point long-axis, possibly by
indirect percussion. Dimensions are variable. Clovis points in the
broader Southwest may range from nearly 3.5 to 14.0 cm. in length, and
in width from about 2.0 to 4.0 cm.
Radio carbon dates and geologic evidence obtained in recent years
indicate Clovis points were in use by Early Man between about 11,000 and
11,500 years ago in the Southwest. Though older than Folsom points,
there evidently was a period towards the end of the Clovis sequence,
during which both Clovis and Folsom points were made and used. Clovis
points have been found with the remains of extinct Pleistocene fauna,
primarily mammoth, not only at the type locality, but at sites near
Angus, Nebraska; Dent, Colorado; Miami, Texas; and Naco, Arizona. Finds
of such points, mostly on the surface, have also been made in northern
Mexico, California, on the eastern seaboard, in the Midwest, Canada, and
Alaska.
Small Clovis points may be confused with Folsom points. However, Clovis
points are both thicker and heavier; flutes do not ordinarily extend up
the entire face, and workmanship is not as fine as on Folsom points.
Also, Folsom points often have a small nipple in the middle of the basal
concavity, a feature lacking on Clovis points.