On the frequency of overshot flakes in Siberian, Clovis, Folsom, Archaic lithic assemblages

Summary

This is an abstract from the "2025 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of David J. Meltzer Part I" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Paleoindian archaeologists often suggest that overshot flakes, or a high frequency of overshot flakes, in lithic assemblages is characteristic or indicative of Clovis technology. Here, we present overshot flake frequency data recorded from Siberian, Folsom, and Archaic assemblages. We then compare these data to published overshot flake frequencies from Clovis assemblages. Our results suggest that while overshot flakes may be characteristic of some Clovis assemblages, they can also be characteristic of non-Clovis assemblages, and thus are not indicative, much less diagnostic, of Clovis. We suggest that the authoritative, knapper-inspired mystique surrounding overshot flakes and flaking be dropped.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• 2025 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of David J. Meltzer Part I

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51129