Editing Clovis culture (section)

{{short description|Prehistoric culture in the Americas c. 11,100–10,800 BCE}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name       = Clovis culture
|map        = Clovis spearpoints - Cleveland Museum of Natural History.jpg
|region     = [[North America]]|period=[[Paleoindian]]
|dates      = 13,050–12,750 BP (11,100–10,800 BC)
|typesite   = [[Blackwater Draw]], New Mexico
|precededby =
|followedby = [[Folsom tradition]] (among others)
}}

The '''Clovis culture''' is an [[archaeological culture]] from the [[Paleoindian]] period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years [[Before Present]] (BP).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Waters |first1=Michael R. |last2=Stafford |first2=Thomas W. |last3=Carlson |first3=David L. |date=October 23, 2020 |title=The age of Clovis—13,050 to 12,750 cal yr B.P. |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=6 |issue=43 |pages=eaaz0455 |bibcode=2020SciA....6..455W |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaz0455 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=7577710 |pmid=33087355}}</ref> The [[type site]] is [[Blackwater Draw|Blackwater Draw locality No. 1]] near [[Clovis, New Mexico]], where stone tools were found alongside the remains of [[Columbian mammoths]] in 1929.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boldurian |first=Anthony T. |date=January 2008 |title=Clovis Type-Site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico: A History, 1929–2009 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/NA.29.1.d |journal=North American Archaeologist |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=65–89 |doi=10.2190/NA.29.1.d |issn=0197-6931|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Clovis sites have been found across North America.<ref name=":1" /> The most distinctive part of the Clovis culture toolkit are [[Clovis points]],<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Morrow |first=Juliet E. |date=April 3, 2019 |title=On Fluted Point Morphometrics, Cladistics, and the Origins of the Clovis Culture |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20555563.2019.1618179 |journal=PaleoAmerica |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=191–205 |doi=10.1080/20555563.2019.1618179 |issn=2055-5563|url-access=subscription }}</ref> which are [[projectile points]] with a fluted, [[wikt:lanceolate|lanceolate]] shape.<ref group="n">Fluted: Having a flake removed from the base, either on one or both sides.<br />Lanceolate: Tapering to a point at one end, like the head of a [[lance]].</ref> Clovis points are typically large, sometimes exceeding {{Convert|10|cm|in}} in length. These points were multifunctional, also serving as cutting tools. Other stone tools used by the Clovis culture include knives, [[Scraper (archaeology)|scrapers]], and bifacial tools, with bone tools including beveled rods and shaft wrenches, with possible ivory points also being identified. Hides, wood, and natural fibers may also have been utilized, though no direct evidence of this has been preserved. Clovis artifacts are often found grouped together in [[Cache (archaeology)|caches]] where they had been stored for later retrieval, and over 20 Clovis caches have been identified.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Schroedl |first=Alan R. |date=April 3, 2021 |title=The geographic origin of Clovis technology: Insights from Clovis biface caches |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00320447.2021.1888188 |journal=Plains Anthropologist |language=en |volume=66 |issue=258 |pages=120–148 |doi=10.1080/00320447.2021.1888188 |issn=0032-0447|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Clovis peoples are thought to have been highly mobile groups of [[hunter-gatherers]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ellis |first=Christopher |date=July 2013 |title=Clovis Lithic Technology: The Devil Is in the Details |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00938157.2013.817867 |journal=Reviews in Anthropology |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=127–160 |doi=10.1080/00938157.2013.817867 |issn=0093-8157 |s2cid=161844234|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is generally agreed that these groups were reliant on hunting big game ([[megafauna]]).<ref name=":16" /> Clovis peoples had a particularly strong association with mammoths, and to a lesser extent with [[mastodon]], [[Cuvieronius|gomphothere]], [[Bison antiquus|bison]], and horse;<ref name=":2" />''<ref name=":25" />'' they also consumed smaller animals and plants.<ref name=":16">Thomas A. Jennings and Ashley M. Smallwood  "[https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-publications/the-saa-archaeological-record/tsar-2019/saa-record-may-2019-web.pdf#page=47 The Clovis Record]" ''The SAA Archaeological Record'' May 2019 • Volume 19 • Number 3</ref> The Clovis hunters may have contributed to the [[Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions]] in North America, though this idea has been subject to controversy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Waguespack |first1=Nicole M. |last2=Surovell |first2=Todd A. |date=April 2003 |title=Clovis Hunting Strategies, or How to Make out on Plentiful Resources |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0002731600048393/type/journal_article |journal=American Antiquity |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=333–352 |doi=10.2307/3557083 |jstor=3557083 |issn=0002-7316|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Only one human burial has been directly associated with tools from the Clovis culture: [[Anzick-1]], a young boy found buried in Montana,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Owsley |first1=Douglas W |last2=Hunt |first2=David |date=May 2001 |title=Clovis and early Archaic crania from the Anzick site (24PA506), Park County, Montana |journal=Plains Anthropologist |volume=46 |issue=176 |pages=115–124 |doi=10.1080/2052546.2001.11932062 |s2cid=159572593}}</ref><ref>New Rdiocarbon Dates for the Anzick Clovis Burial by Juliet E. Morrow and Stuart J.Fiedel. In Paleoindian Archaeology, edited by J.E.Morrow and C.G.Gnecco. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.</ref><ref name="raff_article">{{cite web |last=Raff |first=Jennifer |date=February 8, 2022 |title=A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas |url=https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/ |access-date=October 9, 2022 |publisher=[[Sapiens (magazine)|Sapiens]]}}</ref> who has a close genetic relation to some modern Native American populations, primarily in [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]].<ref name="raff_article" /><ref name="Raff2014">{{Cite journal |last1=Raff |first1=J. A. |last2=Bolnick |first2=D. A. |date=February 13, 2014 |title=Palaeogenomics: Genetic roots of the first Americans |journal=Nature |volume=506 |issue=7487 |pages=162–163 |bibcode=2014Natur.506..162R |doi=10.1038/506162a |pmid=24522593 |s2cid=4445278 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Rasmussen2014">{{Cite journal |last1=Rasmussen |first1=M. |last2=Anzick |first2=S. L. |last3=Waters |first3=M. R. |last4=Skoglund |first4=P. |last5=DeGiorgio |first5=M. |last6=Stafford |first6=T. W. |last7=Rasmussen |first7=S. |last8=Moltke |first8=I. |last9=Albrechtsen |first9=A. |last10=Doyle |first10=S. M. |last11=Poznik |first11=G. D. |last12=Gudmundsdottir |first12=V. |last13=Yadav |first13=R. |last14=Malaspinas |first14=A. S. |last15=White |first15=S. S. |date=February 13, 2014 |title=The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana |journal=Nature |volume=506 |issue=7487 |pages=225–229 |bibcode=2014Natur.506..225R |doi=10.1038/nature13025 |pmc=4878442 |pmid=24522598 |last16=Allentoft |first16=M. E. |last17=Cornejo |first17=O. E. |last18=Tambets |first18=K. |last19=Eriksson |first19=A. |last20=Heintzman |first20=P. D. |last21=Karmin |first21=M. |last22=Korneliussen |first22=T. S. |last23=Meltzer |first23=D. J. |last24=Pierre |first24=T. L. |last25=Stenderup |first25=J. |last26=Saag |first26=L. |last27=Warmuth |first27=V. M. |last28=Lopes |first28=M. C. |last29=Malhi |first29=R. S. |last30=Brunak |first30=S. R. |author30-link=Søren Brunak |last31=Sicheritz-Ponten |first31=T. |last32=Barnes |first32=I. |last33=Collins |first33=M. |last34=Orlando |first34=L. |last35=Balloux |first35=F. |last36=Manica |first36=A. |last37=Gupta |first37=R. |last38=Metspalu |first38=M. |last39=Bustamante |first39=C. D. |author39-link=Carlos D. Bustamante |last40=Jakobsson |first40=M. |last41=Nielsen |first41=R. |last42=Willerslev |first42=E. |author42-link=Eske Willerslev}}</ref>

The Clovis culture represents the earliest widely recognised archaeological culture in North America<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Eren |first1=Metin I. |last2=Story |first2=Brett |last3=Perrone |first3=Alyssa |last4=Bebber |first4=Michelle |last5=Hamilton |first5=Marcus |last6=Walker |first6=Robert |last7=Buchanan |first7=Briggs |date=October 1, 2020 |title=North American Clovis Point Form and Performance: An Experimental Assessment of Penetration Depth |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01977261.2020.1794358 |journal=Lithic Technology |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=263–282 |doi=10.1080/01977261.2020.1794358 |issn=0197-7261|url-access=subscription }}</ref> (though in western North America, it appears to have been contemporaneous with the [[Western Stemmed Tradition]]). While historically, many scholars held to a "[[Clovis First]]" model, where Clovis represented the earliest inhabitants in the Americas, today this is largely rejected, with several generally accepted sites across the Americas like [[Monte Verde|Monte Verde II]] being dated to at least a thousand years earlier than the oldest Clovis sites.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Potter |first1=Ben A. |last2=Chatters |first2=James C. |last3=Prentiss |first3=Anna Marie |last4=Fiedel |first4=Stuart J. |last5=Haynes |first5=Gary |last6=Kelly |first6=Robert L. |last7=Kilby |first7=J. David |last8=Lanoë |first8=François |last9=Holland-Lulewicz |first9=Jacob |last10=Miller |first10=D. Shane |last11=Morrow |first11=Juliet E. |last12=Perri |first12=Angela R. |last13=Rademaker |first13=Kurt M. |last14=Reuther |first14=Joshua D. |last15=Ritchison |first15=Brandon T. |date=January 2, 2022 |title=Current Understanding of the Earliest Human Occupations in the Americas: Evaluation of Becerra-Valdivia and Higham (2020) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20555563.2021.1978721 |journal=PaleoAmerica |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=62–76 |doi=10.1080/20555563.2021.1978721 |issn=2055-5563|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The end of the Clovis culture may have been driven by the decline of the megafauna that the Clovis hunted as well as decreasing mobility, resulting in local differentiation of lithic and cultural traditions across North America.<ref name="Haynes2002" /> Beginning around 12,750–12,600 years BP, the Clovis culture was succeeded by more regional cultures,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Surovell |first1=Todd A. |last2=Boyd |first2=Joshua R. |last3=Haynes |first3=C. Vance |last4=Hodgins |first4=Gregory W. L. |date=April 2, 2016 |title=On the Dating of the Folsom Complex and its Correlation with the Younger Dryas, the End of Clovis, and Megafaunal Extinction |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20555563.2016.1174559 |journal=PaleoAmerica |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=81–89 |doi=10.1080/20555563.2016.1174559 |issn=2055-5563|url-access=subscription }}</ref> including the [[Folsom tradition]] in central North America,<ref name=":6" /> the [[Cumberland point]] in mid/southern North America,<ref name=":20" /> the [[Suwannee point|Suwannee]] and [[Simpson point|Simpson]] points in the southeast,<ref name=":21" /> and Gainey points in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]]–[[Great Lakes]] region.<ref name=":22" /> The Clovis and Folsom traditions may have overlapped, perhaps for around 80–400 years.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=Buchanan |first1=Briggs |last2=Kilby |first2=J. David |last3=LaBelle |first3=Jason M. |last4=Surovell |first4=Todd A. |last5=Holland-Lulewicz |first5=Jacob |last6=Hamilton |first6=Marcus J. |date=July 2022 |title=Bayesian Modeling of the Clovis and Folsom Radiocarbon Records Indicates a 200-Year Multigenerational Transition |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0002731621001530/type/journal_article |journal=American Antiquity |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=567–580 |doi=10.1017/aaq.2021.153 |issn=0002-7316|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The end of the Clovis culture is generally thought to be the result of normal cultural change over time.<ref name="Haynes2002">{{cite book |last=Haynes |first=Gary |title=The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-521-52463-6 |location=New York |page=52}}</ref><ref name=":14" />

In South America, the widespread similar [[Fishtail projectile point|Fishtail or Fell point]] style was contemporaneous to the usage of Clovis points in North America;<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Potter |first1=Ben A. |last2=Chatters |first2=James C. |last3=Prentiss |first3=Anna Marie |last4=Fiedel |first4=Stuart J. |last5=Haynes |first5=Gary |last6=Kelly |first6=Robert L. |last7=Kilby |first7=J. David |last8=Lanoë |first8=François |last9=Holland-Lulewicz |first9=Jacob |last10=Miller |first10=D. Shane |last11=Morrow |first11=Juliet E. |last12=Perri |first12=Angela R. |last13=Rademaker |first13=Kurt M. |last14=Reuther |first14=Joshua D. |last15=Ritchison |first15=Brandon T. |date=January 2, 2022 |title=Current Understanding of the Earliest Human Occupations in the Americas: Evaluation of Becerra-Valdivia and Higham (2020) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20555563.2021.1978721 |journal=PaleoAmerica |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=62–76 |doi=10.1080/20555563.2021.1978721 |issn=2055-5563 |s2cid=239834259|url-access=subscription }}</ref> they possibly developed from Clovis points.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Fiedel |first=Stuart J. |date=July 2017 |title=The Anzick genome proves Clovis is first, after all |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217308029 |journal=Quaternary International |volume=444 |pages=4–9 |bibcode=2017QuInt.444....4F |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>