The late Pleistocene transmission of fluted-point technology across a continent: A morphological investigation.

Summary

The Northern Fluted-Point Complex represents a paleoindian occupation in northern Alaska and the Canadian Yukon and appears to form part of an adaptive strategy similar to that of late paleoindians in the North American plains. This paper presents the results of a shape analysis that uses geometric morphometrics as a tool to identify major factors of variability in fluted projectile-point morphology across a continent by comparing artifacts from Alaska and more temperate regions in North America. Geographic patterns in such variability demonstrate whether fluted-point technologies were "grafted" onto more autochthonous northern complexes or represent movement of discrete paleoindian groups northward at the end of the Pleistocene. Discussion addresses the role of fluted technology in the context of human dispersal across America and their adaptive context in late-glacial Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage