Archeology
presently gives us two notable dates in terms of the peopling of the
Americas. The first and most critical is the successful initial
penetration by sea adapted northern hunter gathers some twenty
thousand years ago who were masters of the Kayak. It appears clear,
though controversial that both coasts were penetrated.
However,
it is surely as certain that their life way kept them initially on
the coast and in the case of the Pacific Northwest, there is were
they in fact remained to modern times. The Northwest is sharp
reminder that large organismic populations become possible on the
coast far beyond what is possible inland.
The
interior terrain of the North East coast would also have been easily
as daunting as the Northwest. The trees while not evergreens were
easily as large as what appeared on the west coast. At the same time
it was elephant country and wherever the trees became small enough,
the mammoths and mastodons knocked them down to provide open country.
Thus
is is no surprise that the expanding populations likely stuck to
obvious fisheris.
We
thus come to the second event which is the emergence of advanced
stone age hunters with their unique Clovis point. That appears to
evolved over a couple of thousand years before succumbing to the
Pleistocene Nonconformity around 12,900 BP.
These
folks were surely going after the heavies. The point itself is
simply impractical for smaller game which will succumb nicely to a
well placed arrow. It was also likely quite expensive. Yet it an
ideal tool for dispatching a Mammoth or Mastodon. These animals
cannot be killed easily with any of the other tools to hand.
Whereas
this point driven into the animal's jugular will open a wound large
enough to bleed out the animal quickly.
Thus
a successful hunting strategy will be to harry a victim into a pit
that will immobilize the creature. Then one can approach the
creature from behind and out of way of the flailing trunk for the
killing stroke. Yes we clearly can use the Clovis point to harvest
one of these giants.
These
maps show us what we now understand as the activity area of the
Clovis peoples. I suspect that it was much more deeply distributed
and we simply do not have evidence yet.
The
life way is simply too convenient. One converts a migration route
choke point into a holding trap and cut out a couple of animals. You
then find your spot and hit the jugular. It may even be possible to
simply throw at short range although that is likely to misfire. If a
single animal produces a ton of meat or even vastly more, the result
is thousands of pounds of pemmican made from the dried and ground
meat.
The
more important point is that with a staple like this we have the
capacity to produce large settlements inland that would compare even
to coastal populations.
Unfortunately
such larger settlements would naturally be on long lost river banks
providing easy access to large fish for fresh meat and wetland
produce such as the cattail.
This item came by way of Dale Drinnon
Paleoindians: Ice Age Hunters in Arkansas and the Mid-South 11,500-8500 B.C.
by
George Sabo III
SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2012
Archeologists
use the term Paleoindian to refer to the earliest American Indians
descended from Asiatic migrants. Paleoindians were present in North
America by the end of the last Ice Age. They quickly spread into
Central and South America. The best known and earliest Paleoindian
culture is called Clovis, named after a town in New Mexico where, in
1932, Clovis artifacts were discovered in Pleistocene sediments. The
most diagnostic artifact is the Clovis point, a well-made, lanceolate
(or willow leaf shaped) spear point with flutes for “hafting” or
securing the point onto a bone or wood shaft. Flutes are shallow
channels on one or both faces of the point, produced by removing
long, thin flakes that extend from the base part way up the blade.
Clovis points were components of a sophisticated weapon complex
consisting of a multi-piece dart assembly. A throwing stick or
“atlatl” was used to increase the force with which the dart could
be hurled.
Clovis points are found in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Many Clovis sites also contain the remains of large Ice Age mammals, including mammoths and mastodons. Clovis sites are radiocarbon dated between 11,500 and 10,500 B.C.
|
Locations
of initial Paleoindian staging areas in the Mid-South, by Jane
Kellett (Arkansas Archeological Survey).
|
J.
Christopher Gillam studied the distribution of Clovis artifacts in
Arkansas. Most Clovis material occurs in the eastern part of the
state, indicating that the first groups migrated down the Mississippi
River from the northern plains. Radiocarbon-dated sites in Missouri,
Oklahoma, and Tennessee place the Clovis arrival in the Mid-South
around 10,500 B.C. Clovis points are not evenly distributed; rather,
they occur in regional clusters that archeologists interpret as
“staging areas.” Staging areas are the localities where
Paleoindian migrations halted and groups began to settle down and
make adaptations—that is, changes in their routines—in relation
to regional environments.
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Paleoindians
expansion from initial staging areas into adjacent regions, by
Jane Kellett (Arkansas Archeological Survey).
|
Archeologist
Juliet Morrow studies the regional variants of Clovis points that
developed in and around mid-South staging areas. She believes the
appearance of these variants represents the emergence of regionally
distinctive Paleoindian groups. These groups maintained their mobile
way of life, but instead of migrating across a wide, uninhabited
terrain, they now moved within specific territories they considered
their home. Groups periodically branched out to occupy new
territories in adjacent region
Clovis
people lived in scattered groups consisting of perhaps two dozen or
so members. There may have been only one hundred to one-hundred-fifty
people in all of what is now Arkansas. They did not build permanent
houses, nor did they make heavy implements. Much more efficient for
their needs were temporary dwellings, such as lean tos or simple wood
frame structures covered with bark, grass, or hides. Warm, well-made
animal skin clothing provided adequate protection in cold
environments. Other equipment was light enough to be personally
carried or towed by dogs.
Ancient peoples’ views of the world can sometimes be inferred by studying their artworks. Unfortunately, very few Paleoindian artworks have been found. A few pieces of bone, ivory, and stone found at several Paleoindian sites across North America are inscribed with geometric designs that are difficult if not impossible to interpret. A zigzag “lightning bolt” drawn with red ochre (a form of iron oxide) on the skull of a bison killed by late Paleoindian hunters in Oklahoma is interpreted by archeologist Lee Bement as evidence of hunting ritual. These tantalizing examples don’t shed a great deal of light on specific Paleoindian beliefs, but they demonstrate a capacity for symbolic communication that later Indian groups used extensively.
When Clovis people reached the Mid-South, upland areas in what is now Arkansas were covered by patches of tundra, grassland, and boreal forest. Bottomlands supported mixed deciduous forests. There were few edible plant foods, but large Ice Age mammals including mammoths and mastodons roamed grasslands and open woodlands and caribou grazed scattered tundra zones. This mixture of closely-spaced tundra, boreal forest, hardwood forest, and grassland habitats no longer exists anywhere in the world. Another unique feature of Ice Age environments is that there were no marked seasonal changes – it was mostly cold and wet the year-round. The Mississippi River flowed in multiple, braided channels within a vast expanse of gravel bars. Water from melting glaciers was too cold and turbulent to support fish or shellfish.
|
Mammoths
and mastodons had regular patterns of movement keyed to their
needs for food, water, and minerals such as salt. As these
animals moved about their range, they left well-trodden paths,
damaged vegetation, and identifiable dung. Clovis people tracked
their whereabouts with considerable efficiency and planned
encounters where the animals could be taken. The meat, hides,
bone, and ivory all were used.
Many Ice Age species, including mammoths and mastodons, suffered extinction before 8000 B.C. Archeologists and paleontologists debate whether these extinctions were caused by climate change, human hunting, disease, or some combination of factors. Recent studies of the impacts of climate changes on vegetation suggest that the grassland and open woodland habitats favored by mammoths and mastodons shrank dramatically towards the end of the last Ice Age. As dwindling herds became increasingly confined to shrinking habitats, Clovis hunting could have been a significant tipping point on the path to extinction. The elimination of mammoths and mastodons forced Clovis people to alter their hunting strategies. Deer, elk, and bison—already present when Paleoindians entered the Southeast—became the primary game animals. Deer and elk are solitary wanderers adapted to forest edge habitats so their pursuit required different tracking strategies and hunting techniques. As the Clovis people adapted, a new way of life emerged that archeologists call the Dalton Culture. Further Reading: Anderson, David G. and Kenneth E. Sassaman (editors) 1996 The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast. Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press. Bement, Leland C. 1999 Bison Hunting at the Cooper Site: Where Lightening Bolts Drew Thundering Herds. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press. Gillam, J. Chrisopher 1999 Paleoindian settlement in Northeastern Arkansas. In Arkansas Archeology: Essays in Honor of Dan and Phyllis Morse, edited by Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. and Marvin D. Jeter, pp. 99-119. Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Press. Haynes, Gary 2002 The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Morrow, Juliet E. 2005 The Myth of Clovis, Part II: The Evolution of Paleoindian Projectile Point Styles. Central States Archaeological Journal52(2):79-82. 2006 Paleoindian Period. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. |
--In
this case, it is known pretty much as a certainty that Clovis was not
brought in by Asiatic . colonists and therefore it was
developed in the Misiisippi valley area. Some sites already known
from Texas and Florida are ing older and therefore it is actually
more likely that Clovis developed from colonists along the Gulf Coast
area and moved inland: and this is possible by way of the Solutrean
Crossing idea.
Best Wishes, Dale D.
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