Clovis Blade Technology: A Comparative Study of the Keven Davis Cache, Texas

by Michael B. Collins, Marvin Kay

Around 11,000 years ago, a Paleoindian culture known to us as "Clovis" occupied much of North America. Considered to be among the continent's earliest human inhabitants, the Clovis peoples were probably nomadic hunters and gatherers whose remaining traces include camp sites and caches of goods stored for utilitarian or ritual purposes. This book offers the first comprehensive study of a little-known aspect of Clovis culture—stone blade technology. Michael Collins introduces the topic with a close look at the nature of blades and the techniques of their manufacture, followed by a discussion of the full spectrum of Clovis lithic technology and how blade production relates to the production of other stone tools. He then provides a full report of the discovery and examination of fourteen blades found in 1988 in the Keven Davis Cache in Navarro County, Texas. Collins also presents a comparative study of known and presumed Clovis blades from many sites, discusses the Clovis peoples' caching practices, and considers what lithic technology and caching behavior can add to our knowledge of Clovis lifeways. These findings will be important reading for both specialists and amateurs who are piecing together the puzzle of the peopling of the Americas, since the manufacture of blades is a trait that Clovis peoples shared with the Upper Paleolithic peoples in Europe and northern Asia.

Genres: Archaeology

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Niche subject but this is a great source of information if you're interested in it. In this book, Collins is specifically focused on blade technology, as opposed to the classic Clovis spearpoints which usually hog all the attention.

[John Branney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in Clovis People and specifically, blade technology, this is one of the books to have in your library. Well done and well researched. Two thumbs up.