Clovis complex

Clovis complex
Widely distributed prehistoric culture of North America characterized by leaf-shaped flint projectile points with fluted sides.

The complex also includes bone tools, hammerstones, scrapers, and unfluted points. It derives its name from the first site examined, in 1932, near Clovis, N.M. Clovis projectile points, dating from с 10,000 BC, have been found in association with mammoth bones and indicate the existence of a big-game hunting tradition among the earliest settlers of North America. See also Folsom complex.

* * *

▪ ancient North American culture
 ancient culture that was widely distributed throughout North America. It is named for the first important archaeological site found, in 1929, near Clovis, N.M. Clovis sites were long believed to have dated to about 9500 to 9000 BC, although early 21st-century analyses suggest the culture may have been of shorter duration, from approximately 9050 to 8800 BC.

      The Clovis complex is generally considered to be ancestral to the Folsom complex. Clovis and Folsom were hunting-and-gathering cultures (hunting and gathering culture); although both groups were fairly generalized foragers, Clovis people seemed to have preferred to eat Pleistocene megafauna such as mammoths, while Folsom people seem to have preferred an extinct species of giant bison.

      Associated with Clovis are such implements as bone tools, hammerstones, scrapers, and projectile points. The typical Clovis point is leaf-shaped, with parallel or slightly convex sides and a concave base. The edges of the basal portions are ground somewhat, probably to prevent the edge from severing the hafting cord. Clovis points range in length from 1.5 to 5 inches (4 to 13 centimetres) and are heavy and fluted, though the fluting rarely exceeds half the length. Some eastern variants of Clovis—called Ohio, Cumberland, or Suwannee, depending on their origin—are somewhat fish-tailed and also narrower relative to length.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Clovis culture — …   Wikipedia

  • complex — complexly, adv. complexness, n. adj., v. /keuhm pleks , kom pleks/; n. /kom pleks/, adj. 1. composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system. 2. characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of… …   Universalium

  • Clovis — /kloh vis/, n. 1. a town in central California. 33,021. 2. a city in E New Mexico. 31,194. 3. a male given name. /kloh vis/, adj. of or pertaining to a Paleo Indian cultural tradition of North America, esp. the American Southwest, dated 10,000… …   Universalium

  • Clovis North Educational Center — (CNEC/Clovis North High School) is the fifth high school in Clovis Unified School District in Clovis, California. It was established in 2007 with Norm Anderson as principal of both the high school and the junior high (Granite Ridge). Clovis North …   Wikipedia

  • Clovis-Kultur — Speerspitze der Clovis Kultur Die Clovis Kultur war die erste flächig verbreitete prähistorische Kultur auf dem amerikanischen Kontinent. Archäologisch ist sie definiert durch ihre charakteristischen Projektilspitzen aus Feuerstein mit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Clovis, New Mexico jail break — Seven of the eight Clovis, New Mexico escapees during a KRQE news report. The Clovis, New Mexico jail break refers to a August 24, 2008 jail escape from the Curry County Adult Detention Center. Eight inmates, all charged with violent crimes,… …   Wikipedia

  • Folsom complex — Prehistoric culture of North America on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains that is known from stone tools. It is characterized by leaf shaped flint projectile points having a concave base with side projections and a longitudinal groove on… …   Universalium

  • Buttermilk Creek Complex — 30.903403 97.665968 Koordinaten: 30° 54′ 12″ N, 97° 39′ 57″ W …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 2008 prison break in Clovis, New Mexico — from the Curry County Adult Detention Center.Eight inmates, all charged with violent crimes, broke out of the Clovis, New Mexico prison by climbing up plumbing pipes in a narrow space inside a wall and using handmade instruments to cut a hole in… …   Wikipedia

  • Southeastern Ceremonial Complex — A map of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex and some of its associated sites The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (traditionally Southern Death Cult, later also as Southern Cult or Chiefly Warfare Cult) is the name given to the regional stylistic …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”