The Paleo-Indian Period in North America

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] that took up the theme of European origins. The Introduction by T.W. Timreck and William Goetzmann) [2] 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, 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.

Links about Monte Verde[3]

· 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.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.