Haskett Spear Points and the Plausibility of Megafaunal Hunting in the Great Basin

Summary

Recent Haskett projectile point finds from western Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert provide a compelling case for megafaunal hunting in the Great Basin, a region that stands out in North America for its lack of direct evidence. The Haskett style is likely the oldest representative of the Western Stemmed series of projectile points, and radiocarbon age estimates on black mat organics at the locality suggest a date range between ca. 12,000 and 13,000 cal BP. In this paper, an argument for megafaunal hunting is constructed for critical examination against alternatives. Images and technological attributes for the collection are presented, including one 22.6-cm specimen that is the longest Haskett point documented archaeologically and another that tested positive to proboscidean antiserum via protein residue analysis.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Taphonomy to Human Ecology: Papers in Honor of Gary Haynes   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage