A Gomphothere Kill and a Clovis Campsite: The Clovis Faunal and Lithic Assemblages from El Fin del Mundo, Sonora, Mexico

Summary

El Fin del Mundo is a Clovis site with multiple activity areas located in the Sonoran Desert of Northwest Mexico. The site contains the only gomphothere (Cuvieronius sp.)-Clovis association yet known in North America and has produced one of the largest assemblages of diagnostic Clovis stone tools south of the US-Mexico border. Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses indicate that Locality 1 preserves the remains of two gomphotheres, aged to approximately 2 years and 8-19 years old, and that the spatial integrity of the site is well preserved. Clovis points and flakes are scattered in and around two bone concentrations, each containing the remains of a single gomphothere. Lithic materials are scattered across the stable upland surface to the south of Locality 1. The lithic assemblage from these uplands includes bifaces, unifaces, and blades. The artifact classes, tool types, and their contexts are indicative of a Clovis camp or camps where domestic tasks took place on the stable uplands surrounding the gomphothere kill.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21936