The Clovis culture is among the earliest well-documented human cultures in the Americas.
Known for their distinctive spear points, the Clovis people were hunter-gatherers who may have specialized in the hunting of megafauna, especially mammoths, but also bison and other big game.
Clovis archaeological sites are widespread from southern Canada to northern Mexico. They show that the culture was well established by 13,000 years ago. This was near the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, when the environment was drying, forcing mammoths to stay near reliable water sources.
On the Colorado Plateau, near Cedar Ridge in Utah, the Lime Ridge site shows evidence of tool replenishment — Clovis point manufacture and repair. It’s located near springs that would have been attractive to mammoths and other game.
Then there’s the San Pedro River Valley in southern Arizona, which offers perhaps the densest concentration of mammoth kill sites anywhere in the world. Murray Springs shows rich evidence of Clovis point production, such as unfinished points and stone flakes, as well as mammoth and bison butchering. Here, Clovis hunters likely ambushed large mammals as they came down to the spring to drink.
At the nearby Naco site, the placement of Clovis spear points in a fossilized mammoth’s neck and rib cage indicates a lethal attack. It’s strong evidence that the Clovis people did not merely scavenge mammoths, but successfully hunted them.
Imagine the skill and courage required to hunt such imposing animals with stone-tipped spears.
This Earth Note was written by Steve Schwartz and produced by KNAU and the Sustainable Communities Program at Northern Arizona University.
