Paleoindian Lifeways Set in Stone: Studying Variation in Fluted-Point Assemblages

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Variability: A Reassessment of Its Meaning, Afforded Range, and the Relation to Process" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Several studies have found variation in fluted-point technological attributes and morphology to be patterned in the Americas. Many of these patterns can be organized by geographical, ecological, and behavioral variables, and have helped formulate our current understanding of some of the earliest cultures to live in the Western Hemisphere. This paper will review how researchers have assessed patterns in fluted-point variation and supported, refuted, and developed new hypotheses explaining Paleoindian lifeways, as well as factors limiting the utility of such studies. We will consider hypotheses, such as cultural transmission and cultural drift, that researchers have proposed to explain patterns in fluted-point variability organized geographically in large, continent-scale datasets, and discuss the kinds and nature of data necessary for testing these hypotheses. The goal of this exercise is to open a dialogue on tangible approaches archaeologists may take as the next step in understanding the meaning of variation in North American fluted-point assemblages.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Variability: A Reassessment of Its Meaning, Afforded Range, and the Relation to Process   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37030.0