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AN ASSESSMENT OF STONE WEAPON TIP STANDARDIZATION DURING THE CLOVIS–FOLSOM TRANSITION IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2018

Briggs Buchanan ,
Brian Andrews ,
Michael J. O'Brien  and
Metin I. Eren
Briggs Buchanan*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
Brian Andrews
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Sociology, Rogers State University, 1701 Will Rogers Blvd., Claremore, OK 74107, USA
Michael J. O'Brien
Affiliation:
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Texas A&M University–San Antonio, One University Way, San Antonio, TX 78253, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Metin I. Eren
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, 750 Hilltop Drive, Kent, OH, USA; Department of Archaeology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
*
(briggs-buchanan@utulsa.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

It has long been assumed that Folsom points are more standardized than Clovis points, although an adequate test of this proposition has yet to be undertaken. Here, we address that deficiency by using data from a sample of Folsom and Clovis points recovered from sites across the western United States. We used geometric morphometric techniques to capture point shape and then conducted statistical analyses of variability associated with Clovis and Folsom point bases and blades. Our results demonstrate that Folsom bases and blades are less variable than those on earlier Clovis points, indicating an increase in point standardization during the Early Paleoindian period. In addition, despite published claims to the contrary, Clovis and Folsom point bases are no more variable than blades. Based on these results, we conducted additional analyses to examine the modularity and size of Clovis and Folsom points. The results suggest Clovis points have more integrated base and blade segments than Folsom points. We suggest that several classes of Clovis points—intended for different functions—might have been in use during the Clovis period and that the later Folsom points might have served only as weapon tips, the shape of which were constrained by the fluting process.

Durante mucho tiempo, se ha supuesto que las puntas de proyectil Folsom son más estandarizadas que las puntas Clovis; sin embargo, hasta la fecha no se había llevado a cabo una prueba adecuada de esta propuesta. Aquí se aborda este asunto usando datos de una muestra de puntas Folsom y Clovis recuperadas en sitios del oeste de Estados Unidos. Se utilizaron técnicas de morfometría geométrica para analizar la forma de las puntas y se llevaron a cabo análisis estadísticos de la variabilidad asociada con las bases y los bordes de las puntas Clovis y Folsom. Nuestros resultados demuestran que las bases y los bordes de las puntas de proyectil Folsom son menos variables que los de las puntas Clovis. También demostramos que tanto para las puntas Clovis como para las puntas Folsom, las bases no son más variables que los bordes. Los primeros resultados indican un aumento en la estandarización de las puntas de proyectil durante el período Paleoindio temprano. Los resultados sugieren que la hipótesis de que el retoque aumenta la variación de forma asociada con los bordes en relación con las bases carece de fundamento. Con base en estos resultados llevamos a cabo análisis adicionales para examinar la modularidad y el tamaño de las puntas de proyectil Clovis y Folsom. Los resultados sugieren que las puntas Clovis, que son más variables en forma y longitud que las puntas Folsom, poseen segmentos de base y de borde más integrados que las puntas Folsom. Sugerimos que varias clases de puntas Clovis —destinadas para diferentes funciones— pudieron haber estado en uso durante el período Clovis y que las puntas Folsom pudieron haber servido solo como puntas de armas. Parece que la estandarización y el uso especializado de las puntas Folsom evolucionaron conjuntamente en un circuito de retroalimentación resultante tanto de las limitaciones del acanalamiento Folsom como de los beneficios para la función de la punta que pueden haber resultado del mismo acanalamiento.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 83 , Issue 4 , October 2018 , pp. 721 - 734
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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