Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T09:19:21.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comments on the Report of a Worked Mammoth Tusk from the Clovis Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

F. E. Green
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A section of worked mammoth tusk reported to have been recovered but unrecognized as an artifact in January 1964 was actually discovered in November 1963 and recognized by several people at that time. The provenience for the tusk segment is given as unit B, which is declared to be pre-Clovis in age and more than 12,000 years old. The postulated translocation of the tusk, as well as other faunal remains and Clovis artifacts, is attributed to the influence of spring discharge and saturation of sediments. My salvage excavations in December 1963 and January 1964 are outlined, and my conclusions are not compatible with the concept of large-scale intrusion of artifacts and bones. The stratum designated as unit B in the north bank is entirely of Clovis age, and the mammoth-tusk artifact was coeval with its enclosing sediments.

Resumen

Resumen

La recuperación de unfragmento de colmillo de mamut trabajadofue registrada en enero de 1964, aún cuando no se le reconoció como artefacto. Este ejemplarfue realmente descubierto en noviembre de 1963 e identifkado por varias personas en aquella oportunidad. La proveniencia del segmento de colmillo es unidad B, la que se afirma es anterior a Clovis, con mas de 12.000 años de antigüedad. El desplazamiento del colmillo, así como de otros restos faunísticos y artefactos Clovis, se atribuye al efecto de la descarga del arroyo y a la saturación de los sedimentos. Tras describir brevemente mis excavaciones de rescate de diciembre de 1963 y enero de 1964, sostengo que mis conclusiones son incompatibles con el concepto de intrusión de artefactos y huesos en gran escala. El estrato designado unidad B en la barranca norte es de edad Clovis en su totalidad y el artefacto de colmillo de mamut es de la misma antigüedad que los sedimentos que lo incluían.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , April 1992 , pp. 331 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Haynes, C. V. 1975 Pleistocene and Recent Stratigraphy. In Late Pleistocene Environments of the Southern High Plains, edited by Wendorf, F. and Hester, J. J., pp. 57–96. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. V., Jr., and Agogino, G. A. 1966 Prehistoric Springs and Geochronology of the Clovis Site, New Mexico. American Antiquity 31 : 812–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, C. V., Stanford, D., Jodry, P., and Agogino, G. A. 1989 Geochronology of the Outlet Channel and South Wall, Clovis Type Site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico. Ms. in possession of author.Google Scholar
Hester, J. J. (editor) 1972 Blackwater Locality No. 1 : A Stratified Early Man Site in Eastern New Mexico. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Saunders, J. J., Haynes, C. V., Jr., Stanford, D. J., and Agogino, G. 1990 A Mammoth-Ivory Semifabricate from Blackwater Locality No. 1, New Mexico. American Antiquity 55 : 112–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellards, E. H. 1952 Early Man in America. University of Texas Press, Austin. Stanford, D., Haynes, C. V., Saunders, J. J., and G. A. AgoginoGoogle Scholar
Sellards, E. H. 1986 Blackwater Draw Locality 1 : History, Current Research and Interpretations. In Guidebook to the Archaeological Geology of Classic Paleoindian Sites on the Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico, edited by Holliday, V. T., pp. 82–112, 118-129. Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Stevens, D. E. C. 1973 Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, 1963-1972, and its Relevance to the Firstview Complex. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales.Google Scholar
Warnica, J. M. 1966 New Discoveries at the Clovis Site. American Antiquity 31 : 345–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar