Dennis J. Stanford

On the Pleistocene antiquity of Monte Verde, southern Chile

The potential importance of the Monte Verde site for the peopling of the New World prompted a detailed examination of the collections from that locality, as well as a site visit in January 1997 by a group of Paleoindian specialists. It is the consensus of that group that the MV-II occupation at the site is both archaeological and 12,500 years old, as T. Dillehay has argued. The status of the potentially even older material at the site (MV-1, ∼ 33,000 B.P.) remains unresolved.

The North Atlantic ice-edge corridor: a possible Palaeolithic route to the New World

The early peopling of the New World has been a topic of intense research since the early twentieth century. We contend that the exclusive focus of research on a Beringian entry point has not been productive. Evidence has accumulated over the past two decades indicating that the earliest origin of people in North America may have been from south-western Europe during the last glacial maximum. In this summary we outline a theory of a Solutrean origin for Clovis culture and briefly present the archaeological data supporting this assertion.

On the possible utilization of Camelops by early man in North America

Camelops was a major faunal element in late Wisconsin biotic communities over much of North America. Interpretations of possible human association with Camelops are often based on poorly evaluated evidence. Ideal standards for acceptable evidence are compared here to the actual evidence that has been advanced. Of 25 fossil assemblages examined, 2 might be examples only of geological contemporaneity of humans and Camelops; 2 might indicate behavioral association of humans and Camelops bones; and 2 might indicate actual human utilization of Camelops (killing and/or butchering). Camelops bones interpreted as artifacts are similar to modern specimens affected by noncultural processes.

The Jones-Miller Site: An Example of Hell Gap Bison Procurement Strategy

During June to October of 1973, 1974, and 1975, the Smithsonian Institution, with fund ing from a National Geographic Society research grant, excavated a Hell Gap site near Wray, Colorado. The Jones-Miller site was found by Robert B. Jones, Jr., while he was constructing a circular irrigation system in 1972. Jones observed a large quantity of bison bone and, upon examining the area closely, he found several Hell Gap points. He realized their potential significance and dis continued his dirt-moving operations. The site was called to the attention of Jack Miller, a former Anthropology instructor at Colorado State University. Miller, along with his father, Ruben Miller of Sterling, Colorado, and Mike Toft, a student at Colorado State University, conducted preliminary excavations during the summer of 1972. After finding several hundred bison bones and a number of Hell Gap artifacts, Miller notified Dr. James Judge, University of New Mexico, of the find, who in turn contacted the Smithsonian Institution. The site is situated at the head of a shallow draw that drains into a tributary of the Arikaree River in northeastern Colorado. The surrounding countryside is currently planted in corn, wheat, and pasture. Prior to being homesteaded, the land was terrace grassland, dominated by western wheatgrass, threeawn, needle-and-thread, foxtail barley, and Indian ricegrass. Evidence from the excavation suggests that at the time of site deposition the climate was cooler than at present with more effective moisture comparable to present conditions at 1,800-2,400 m above sea level at the same latitude, but more equable. Tentative results are consistent with a regime of a snowy winter and a relatively dry summer and fall. This precipitation pattern, combined with a moist spring caused by the melting of accumulated snow, would have resulted in high grass productivity. The Arikaree valley itself probably had a deciduous woodland on the river bottom, and along its tributaries. The terrace and drier slopes would have been tall to mixed grasslands and meadows, with scattered trees. Conifers may have occurred along the outcrops of the Ogallala formation and along some of the more well-drained escarpments of the High Plains. The environ ment of the Jones-Miller site was probably an open tall or tall-to-mid grassland with scatter ed deciduous trees and a small temporary pond or slough fed by overflow from a small tributary to the south of the site. The draw in which the bison bones were found is about 45 cm deep and 30 m wide. It cuts the third terrace of the Arikaree River, which is composed of colluvial loessial sediments. Another shallow draw is located approximately 45 m to the west of the site. During the 1974 field season, bison bones were found in this second drainage at the same level as in the main bone bed, but their relationship to the site is unknown. A narrow finger of uneroded Pierre Shale separates the two drainages. Several fire hearths have been located in the second area; however, no diagnostic artifacts have been found in the hearth area. The bone bed is an average of 30 m long by 20 m wide (Fig. 10.1). It consists of the remains of nearly 300 totally disarticulated animals that have been identified as Bison antiquus. The disarticulated remains are associated with Hell Gap projectile points in several nonrandomly structured butchering areas. In many cases, certain bone elements, or series of bone elements, which represent butchering units are found in what appear to be refuse piles. For example, the humerus and radius-ulna are found disarticulated but associated with each other in specific areas of the butchering clusters. In many cases, these butchering units have only the bones from one side of several animals, so that all remains

Fluted point manufacture in eastern North America: an assessment of form and technology using traditional metrics and 3D digital morphometrics

Abstract Differences in Paleoindian projectile point morphology have previously been used to define technologies, infer colonization patterns, propose chronological and regional boundaries. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of traditional linear measurements and ratios, flake scar angles, and 3D model-based flake contours for the statistical differentiation of projectile point type(s) and reduction technique. Sixty-three fluted bifaces from eastern North America and fourteen replicate Clovis points are analyzed. Discriminant analysis shows that 3D model-based Fourier descriptors of flake scar contours are less successful than traditional metrics in correctly differentiating styles, but more successful in identifying individual knappers. Changes in the symmetry of front and back flake scars between Clovis and later fluted point styles indicate a possible shift in reduction techniques. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of both traditional and modern morphometric variables to quantify biface morphology, and address questions about social interaction and technological change in Pleistocene North America.

Solutrean hypothesis: genetics, the mammoth in the room

Abstract The Solutrean hypothesis for the origin of the Clovis archaeological culture contends that people came from south-western Europe to North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. This hypothesis has received numerous critiques, but little objective testing, either of cultural or genetic evidence. We contest the assertion that there is NO genetic evidence to support this hypothesis, and detail the published evidence, consistent with a pre-Columbian western Eurasian origin for some founding genetic markers, specifically mtDNA X2a, and some autosomal influence, found in ancient and modern Native American populations. The possibility that the inferred pre-Columbian western autosomal influence came more directly than through Siberia is not even considered in such studies. The mtDNA X2a evidence is more consistent with the Atlantic route and dates suggested by the Solutrean hypothesis and is more parsimonious than the assumption of a single Beringian entry, that assumes retrograde extinction of X in East Eurasia.

New Evidence for a Possible Paleolithic Occupation of the Eastern North American Continental Shelf at the Last Glacial Maximum

Mastodon remains dated to 22,760 RCYBP were recovered with a bifacial laurel leaf knife from 250 ft below sea level on the outer continental shelf of Virginia. This chapter reports the results of our research concerning this find and an on-going survey of the extensive archaeological collections of the Smithsonian and other repositories including large private collections that are representative of the Chesapeake Bay drainage system. We located additional laurel leaf specimens recovered by watermen working on the continental shelf. The study indicates that these bifaces are not part of the post last glacial maximum (LGM) technologies and, therefore, support an LGM occupation of the continental shelf of North America.

Clovis Coastal Zone Width Variation: A Possible Solution for Early Paleoindian Population Disparity Along the Mid-Atlantic Coast, USA

ABSTRACT A coastal ecological model based on coastal zone width is presented to explain human interest in the coastal plain during the Clovis-era circa 13,200 to 12,800 years ago. Isobathic depths on the continental shelf along with relative sea-level data are used to approximate the Clovis-age coastal zone widths for the Delmarva Peninsula and coastal North Carolina. Coastal plain areas with former broad coastal zones during the Clovis-era have revealed large numbers of Clovis diagnostics within the extant terrestrial settings. In contrast, regions with narrow coastal zones during the Clovis-era imply limited use of the coastal plain. Modern analogues to these types of settings denote disproportionate coastal and marine resource productivity, which may explain the disparity of Clovis sites along the extant Atlantic coastal plain areas of the eastern United States.

Reply to F. E. Green's Comments on the Clovis Site

F. E. Green has corrected errors regarding the provenience and prior determination of the artifactual nature of the ivory semifabricate reported by Saunders et al. (1990) and has brought forth new information regarding the spring deposits of the north bank of the gravel pit at the Clovis site. This statement addresses the contemporaneity of Clovis occupation with deposition of the gray sand and the relation of the gray sand to spring deposits. We offer it in expectation that a better understanding of north-bank stratigraphy and geochronology might result regardless of which of two views of the archaeology of the gray sand eventually prevails.

Dating the Peopling of Northwestern South America: An AMS Date from El Inga Site, Highland Ecuador

The El Inga site in Ecuador produced an important number of fishtail (or Fell) points. Early 1960s conventional radiocarbon assays yielded dates ranging between 9000 and 4900 14C yr BP. Even the oldest one seems too young given dates for these artifacts in South America. We recently AMS dated a curated sample from Bells original excavation. The new results are in agreement with dates obtained from fishtail point sites in the rest of the continent.