The Clovis People (11¸200 to 11¸000 B.C.E.)
The earlier well–documented Paleo Indian settlement is associated with the distinctive Clovis fluted point. The Clovis tradition¸ named after a town in New Mexico¸ once flourished in various forms over much of North and Central America from about 11¸2000 to 11¸000 B.C.E. Clovis may be an indigenous North American cultural tradition¸ but its roots lie in northern forage cultures such as flourished in Alaska at such locations as its roots lie in northern forager cultures such as flourished in Alaska at such locations as the Hidden Mammoth and Mesa sites as early as 11¸800 B.C.E. where foragers used simple bifacial spear points in the chase. These locations¸ little more than tiny scatters of bones¸ hearths¸ and stone artifacts¸ are the earliest evidence for human settlement in Alaska and have no direct equivalents in earlier traditions such as D´uktai in Siberia.
Clovis is best¸ and misleadingly¸ known from occasional mammoth and bison kills on the Northern American plains. These plains expanded at the end of the Ice Age their short grasses providing ample feed for all kinds of big game¸ including bison¸ mammoth¸ and other ruminants. Clovis bands on the plains preyed on these and many other game species large and small. They were constantly on the move¸ often camping along rivers and streams and close to permanent waterholes. Here they killed their prey¸ camping near the carcass lay.
It would be a mistake¸ however to think of the Clovis people as purely big—game hunters. They settled not only on open grasslands¸ but in woodlands¸ tundra¸ deserts¸ and along sea coasts. In some areas¸ wild plant food were probably as important as if not more important then¸ game. Fish and sea—mammals may also have assumed great local importance especially along rising coastlines. However¸ wherever Clovis people and their contemporaries settled¸ large game was of great importance¸simply because it was a relatively abundant meat source.
Nowhere were Clovis populations large. Their tool kit was highly portable¸ based on an expert stone—flaking technology that produce fine¸ fluted points. They hunters mounted these on long wooden shafts¸ sometimes attaching the head to a detachable foreshaft that acted as a hinge. When the spear penetrated an animal¸ the foreshaft would snap off¸ ensuring that the lethally sharp point stayed in the would Like other later Paleo—Indian groups and like Ice Age hunters in the Old World the Clovis people hunted their prey on foot¸ relying on their stalking skill and the accuracy of their throwing sticks (atlatls) to dispatch their quarry.
The origins of the Clovis people remain a complete mystery. However¸ most experts believed their ultimate origins were among late–Ice Age forager populations in Alaska and Northeast Asia. If the first Americans crossed into the New World about 15¸000 years ago then the peopling of the uninhabited continent took place remarkably quickly. However 10¸000 B.C.E. Stone Age foragers occupied every corner of the Americas. The overall human population probably numbered no more than a few tens of thousands¸ but they had adapted to every form of local environment imaginable.
By this time¸ the last glaciation was long over and the great ice sheets of the north were in rapid retreat. Climatic conditions were warming up rapidly¸ and many species of Ice Age big game vanished. The descendants of the first Americans adapted to these new circumstances in very diverse ways along trajectories of cultural change that led¸ ultimately¸ to the brilliant array of North American societies encountered by Europeans in the late fifteenth century C.E.
With the first settlement of the Americans¸ the great radiation of Homo sapiens sapiens¸ the wise person was nearly complete. This was the second great radiation of humanity¸ the climactic development of world prehistory. From it stemmed not only the great biological and cultural diversity of modern humankind¸ but food production¸ village life¸ urban civilization¸ and the settlement of the Pacific Islands—the very roots of our own diverse and complex world.
Summary
This chapter documents the spread of Homo sapiens sapiens into Europe and Eurasia from Africa and Southwest Asia after 45¸000 years ago¸ during the late Ice Age. However¸ this time¸ there was increasing specialization and flexibility in human hunting and foraging¸ as anatomically modern human replaced Neanderthal groups by 33¸000 B.C.E. The sheer diversity of the late Ice Age environment gave the Cro–Magon people of western Europe great flexibility. They developed more complex societies and developed elaborate bone and antler technology¸ as well as an intricate symbolic life in their artistic traditions. These cultures reached their apogee in the Magdaleian culture¸ which flourished after 16¸000 B.C.E. and for about 5¸000 years. Late Ice—Age hunters—gathers also spread slowly onto the Russian plans¸ relying heavily on game of all kinds. Far to the northeast¸western Siberia was stetted at least as early as 28¸000 years ago¸ but the extreme northeast was devoid of human settlement until the very late Ice Age¸ perhaps as late as 18¸000 years ago.
The first humans to settle the Americans crossed from northeast Asia¸ probably across¸ or along the coasts of¸ the Bering Land Bridge (central Beringia)¸ but the date of their arrival is highly controversial. Some scientists claim that archaeological evidence from South America proves that Native Americans were flourishing in the Americas as early as 40¸000 years ago. Most experts believe that first settlement occurred much later¸ perhaps as the very end of the Ice Age¸ as early as 15¸000 years ago. There is evidence for human occupation in Chile by 11¸800 B.C.E.¸ while the Clovis people of North America flourished between 11¸200 and 10¸900 B.C.E.
