Variability of Clovis Lithic Assemblages from El Fin del Mundo and the San Pedro River Valley

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.

Clovis populations have been traditionally characterized as wide ranging, highly mobile foragers, as reflected most notably in the intense utilization of high quality, nonlocal cryptocrystalline lithic raw materials. However, in Sonora, Mexico, local non-cryptocrystalline tool stones dominate Clovis point assemblages and sources of igneous rocks were intensively exploited by Clovis flintknappers at the site of El Fin del Mundo. Additionally, the large size of the lithic assemblage from this site and its varied tool type composition seem to contrast with the Clovis record of the San Pedro River Valley (SPV) in Arizona, only 250 km away, which is highly dominated by Clovis points and exogenous, high-quality raw materials. This has been interpreted as variability of landscape use strategies between these two regions. However, a comparative analysis of the Clovis lithic assemblages, as well as the location of the sites within their local landscape, indicate that lithic assemblage variability is instead driven by site use, the proximity of sources of lower-quality raw materials to other significant resources, and taphonomic processes. El Fin del Mundo and the SPV are best interpreted as reflecting different facets of the same landscape-use strategies and are both consistent with traditional views of Clovis behavior.

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): 35688.0