LATE PALEOINDIANS IN NORTH AMERICA
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The Scene
- LPI cultures evolve out of Clovis at end of
Pleistocene as global warming occurs; moisture regimes quite variable throughout
N. America
- mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna become
extinct, but bison persist, thrive in emerging grasslands in west
- in east, boreal and hardwood forests develop,
depending on latitude; caribou in north, deer farther south
- scene is set for regional vairiability to develop
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Folsom: The Second Fluted Point Culture
- thought to be directly descended from Clovis
because of continuation of fluted points -- these ones small, and exceptionally
well-made
- generally dated, 11,000-10,000 BP
- found, at several sites, exclusively in the West:
Southwest, Intermontane, and esp. High Plains
- like Clovis, most sites are kill sites, but most
often associated with long-horn bison, not mammoth
Lindenmeier
- one of first Paleoindian sites discovered, 1930s,
by amateur archaeologists, N.E. Colorado
- contains major Folsom component, one of few known
campsites
- dated to 10,800 BP
- camp located adjacent to ancient marsh, now
silted-in
- no hearths or dwellings found, but large, diverse
tool assemblage suggests camp not kill site
- several Folsom points, many in association with
partially disarticulated Bison antiquus
- other fauna: camel, deer, antelope
- other stone tools: distinctive scraper/graver;
thumbnail and side scrapers; long, thin, bifacial knives; crude choppers; sandstone
slabs; grooved abraders
- also pigment stone; bone disc/gaming piece
- from Lindenmeier collection, only Folsom points
and scraper/gravers are distinctive -- other tools types found in other LPI
complexes
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Folsom ADrive@ Hunting
- Folsom is important for first evidence of new
hunting technique: the Adrive@
- herd hunting/mass kill of bison by driving into
cul-de-sac or marsh
- wasteful technique, as much meat not used; but
still suggests drying and storage
- a co-operative technique; suggests complex
organization with leadership (temporary) and perhaps Amacroband@ grouping
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Dalton Complex
- LPI in the East, esp. Southeast
- dated to about same period as Folsom,
10,800-10,000 BP
- diagnostic artifact is Dalton point or
knife; a long, narrow, triangular (not lanceolate) point; fluting is shallow or
non-existent
- Dalton points often found with small, side-notched
points (Early Archaic); but some sites in S.E. (eg., Brand, Sloan in
Arkansas) contain Dalton only -- definitely LPI
- most sites found in upland areas (caves and
shelters), rarely in valley bottoms -- related to hunting strategies?
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Plano
- umbrella terms given to bewildering number of
western and Plains cultural complexes, including Folsom
- most Plano complexes (except Folsom) marked by
lanceolate, unfluted points
- sites range from southern Alberta to N. Mexico,
and date from 10,500-8,000 BP
- variation in point types: length-to-width ratios
vary from 2:1 to 5:1 -- longer point types sometimes stemmed (eg., Scottsbluff,
Hell Gap)
- edges near base often ground for hafting to shaft
Olsen-Chubbock site
- early Plano kill site in east central Colorado;
dated 10,200 BP; Firstview points found
- new hunting technique -- a Adrive-jump@ site; bison driven over
edge of narrow gully, 2-3 m drop
- this technique used into 19th C.
- MNI 190, both sexes, all ages
- Abone piles@ reveal butchery methods;
animals skinned, hump meat removed, then forelegs and shoulder, then hind legs
and pelvis, finally vertebrae and skulls
- some animals at bottom of arroyo fully articulated
- analysis of teeth for age and seasonality
indicated selective killing (0.6-2.6 years) and Oct-Nov.
- late season hunt may suggest Afrozen storage@
- Plano technology: diverse point styles overly
basic toolkit seen in Folsom -- variety of scrapers, gravers, biface knives,
occasional choppers and grinding slabs
- later components (8,500-8,000 BP) sometimes
include manos and millingstones, and distinctive Cody Knife