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Added August 28, 2000. Revised February 28, 2006, 11:29 ?5 GMT.
Since it appears that there is relatively little readily available
information in many parts of the world on American Archaeology, this
Internet page aims to inform archaeologists on the subject. The aim is
to facilitate Comparative Archaeology as defined on the home page of the
Comparative Archaeology WEB©.
This page will be refined and improved as deemed necessary and useful.
*The Paleo-Indian Period**
**By*
*Maximilian O. Baldia***
* *
The Geography
Sites of the Paleo-Indian Period are found throughout the continental
US. Although there are some regional and chronological differences, the
early sites show considerable similarity. This is only later followed by
regional differentiation and adaptation to changing environments.
Therefore, this period is not broken into cultural regions, although
some regional differences are noted below.
*/ /*
*/A Word of Caution/**//*
*/ /*
Recent articles seem to suggest that there could be a connection between
Paleo-Indians and the Late Paleolithic of Europe. As yet, there is not a
shred of archaeological evidence to establish any such connection,
although the idea is not new.
Surprisingly, even the prestigious Smithsonian Institution had three
articles on the Internet (Smithsonian On-line exhibit: Northern Clans,
Northern Traces )[1]
<#_ftn1> that took up the theme of European origins. The Introduction by
T.W. Timreck and William Goetzmann
) [2] <#_ftn2> went
as far as to suggests a connection between the Mesolithic of Northern
France and the skeleton from the L'Anse Amour site in Labrador by
referring to the ?Teviac? (sic) burial mound on the coast of northern
France.
The ?Teviac? or rather Teviec tomb is stated to be a megalithic tomb.
Megalithic tombs are made from very large stones, weighing hundreds of
pounds. The Teviec illustration does not show a single megalithic stone.
Timreck and Goetzmann?s article also depicted a French standing stone or
menhir from the French New Stone Age or Neolithic. Menhirs do not
usually mark burials and have absolutely nothing to do with Mesolithic
Teviec. Contrary to the caption underneath the picture of the menhir,
it is not a product of the earliest cultures of northwest Europe.
Some French archaeologists see Teviec and a similar tomb called Hoëdic
as the */precursors/* of megalithic tombs. Others, such as Boujot and
Cassen (/Antiquity /67 1993) suggest an alternative burial architecture,
the /tertres// tumulaires/, as the precursors.
The development of French megalithic tombs seems to be connected to the
interaction between local Mesolithic fishers and gatherers and early
farmers (see Parameters of the Neolithisation in the West of France:
from the Circulation of Prestige Goods to the Invention of Symbols
by S. Cassen.)
Speculative articles and lack of research is unproductive for
Comparative Archaeology and a disservice to the general public.
The Environment
The first Americans entered an environment that was quite different from
that of today. The geological period, called the /Late Pleistocene/ had
plants, such as Spruce
and Poplars
. There were
huge animals, including big-game, such as mastodons and mammoths
.
The First Americans
The term ?Paleo? means old and was first used to describe the
Paleolithic or Old Stone Age in the Old World.
The skeletal evidence indicates that the first people in America were
modern human beings, such as Kennewick Man (Kenneick
radiocarbon dates ). These early hunters are
deemed to be the forefathers of the Native American people, known
worldwide by the misnomer ?American Indians.?
The traditional view is that early big-game hunters crossed the Bering
Strait
from Asia into North America following a land bridge that existed
between 21 000-11 000 BC. They then continued along an ice-free corridor
from Alaska across western Canada, reaching the modern US border around
11 000 years ago and developed characteristic stone tools called Clovis
projectile points.
However, the precise date of the peopling of the New World has been
debated for several decades and new South American dates, especially
those from Monte Verde in Chile <#_Links_about_Monte>, may imply an
older period of peopling via various routes. Several sites, including
Cactus Hill in
Virginia, suggest a pre-Clovis horizon. Thus an increasing number of
archaeologists believe that the arrival of people in the New World
predates 11 500 cal BC.
Generally speaking the Paleo-Indian Period is divided into three
successive sub-phases:
1. Clovis Culture
2. Folsom
3. Plano Culture
These sub-phases are identified by their tool kit, primarily stone tools.
The Stone Tools
The stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers
, are the primary evidence of the earliest
well known human activity in America. Associated with the ice-free
corridor in Canada are neatly crafted American fluted points from 32
sites. They belong to the Llano complex. This complex includes Clovis
(11 000/9 500 ? 9 000 BC) and Folsom (9 000 ? 8 000 BC) points. The
older artifacts were first found in association with mammoth remains
near Clovis
,
New Mexico. The younger points were originally discovered at Folsom
,
New Mexico, in association with buffalo (bison).
The older points had a small flute. Flakes were removed longitudinally
from the base toward its tip. The later, more advanced tools had a more
pronounced fluting, running along nearly the entire length of the
artifact. Fluting is an American invention that probably improved the
hafting of the projectile points to the shaft of a spear, but there is
evidence that the tools were used as knives.
There are some regional differences, which become more pronounced in
time. Interestingly enough, the distribution of fluted points suggests
that majority is found east of the Mississippi. Eastern Woodland
Paleo-Indian sites contain fluted and unfluted Clovis and Cumberland
projectile points/knifes, dating to 10 000 ? 8 000 BC, followed by
Dalton (8 500 ? 7 900 BC). Folsom is largely confined to the Plains.
Cumberland points are relatively isolated west of the confluence of the
Ohio River and the Mississippi, in the vicinity of Cumberland and
Tennessee Rivers. Suwannee points are found primarily in Florida and to
a lesser degree in the coastal regions just to the north. Other points
are quite common in the Midwest and the Northeast. This may suggest
cultural differences; perhaps due to the exploitation of different
environments.
References and Credits
David G. Anderson and Michael K. Faught
/A North American Paleoindian Projectile Point Database/
. The University of Tennessee Department
of Anthropology, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996. (Includes maps of
projectile point distributions).
Branigan, Keith
1996 /Make it Work! Stone Age People/. World Book, Inc., Chicago.
Hester, James
1972 /Blackwater// Locality No. 1: A stratified, early man site
in eastern New Mexico/. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Inc. Southern
Methodist University. Burgwin Research Center, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico.
Loy, Thomas and E. James Dixon
1998 Blood residues on fluted points from eastern Alaska.
/American Antiquity/ 63/1:21-46.
Meltzer, D. J.
1993 /Search for the First Americans/. Smithsonian Books,
Washington, D.C.
Related Links
Baker, Tony
*/Paleoindian & Other Archaeological Stuff /*
/ /
Ohio Historical Society
Paleoindian Period (13,000 to 7,000 B.C.)
Pre-Clovis Culture
Clovis Culture
Plano Culture
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* *
Links about Monte Verde*[3]* <#_ftn3>
· *On Monte Verde: Fiedel's Confusion and Misrepresentations
*
? lenthy rebutal to the October 1999 report "Artifact Provenience at
Monte Verde: Confusions and Contraditions," by Stuart Fiedel of John
Milner Associates.
· *Monte Verde Under Fire
*
? October 18, 1999 Archaeology article looking at the new wave of
criticism directed at the famous excavation. Also offers links to other
features examining the significance of the site.
· *Chilean Site Verified as Earliest Human Inhabited Site in the
Americas
*
? 1997 National Geographic Society and Dallas Museum of Natural History
press release.
· *Monte Verde Excavation: or Clovis Police Beat a Retreat
*
? two 1997 articles examining the old debate and the new consensus.
· *Monte Verde Archeologist Prevails In Dispute Over Settlement's
Age
*
? article from The Scientist, January 20, 1990.
Home
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia <../../../MailToMax.htm>.
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[1] <#_ftnref1> Link now defunct.
[2] <#_ftnref2> Link now defunct.
[3] <#_ftnref3> Defunct links removed January 24, 2003