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A 15,000-year-old stemmed point is one of the oldest weapons found in North America.

Oldest Weapons Ever Discovered in North America Pre-date Clovis

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Texas A&M University researchers have discovered what are believed to be the oldest weapons ever found in North America: ancient spear points that are 15,500 years old. The findings raise new questions about the settlement of early peoples on the continent.

Michael Waters, distinguished professor of anthropology and director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M, and colleagues from Baylor University and the University of Texas have had their work published in the current issue of Science Advances.

The team found the numerous weapons - about 3-4 inches long - while digging at what has been termed the Debra L. Friedkin site, named for the family who owns the land about 40 miles northwest of Austin in Central Texas. The site has undergone extensive archaeological work for the past 12 years.

Spear points made of chert and other tools were discovered under several feet of sediment that dating revealed to be 15,500 years old, and pre-date Clovis, who for decades were believed to be the first people to enter the Americas.

Pre-Clovis projectile points from the Debra L. Friedkin site and other sites in North America. (Image: Science Advances)

Pre-Clovis projectile points from the Debra L. Friedkin site and other sites in North America. (Image: Science Advances)

"There is no doubt these weapons were used for hunting game in the area at that time," Waters said. "The discovery is significant because almost all pre-Clovis sites have stone tools, but spear points have yet to be found. These points were found under a layer with Clovis and Folsom projectile points. Clovis is dated to 13,000 to 12,700 years ago and Folsom after that. The dream has always been to find diagnostic artifacts - such as projectile points - that can be recognized as older than Clovis and this is what we have at the Friedkin site."

For comparison, the blades of the Clovis culture had distinctively shaped stone spear points, bifacial and typically fluted on both sides, known as the Clovis point. (CC BY-SA 3.0).

For comparison, the blades of the Clovis culture had distinctively shaped stone spear points, bifacial and typically fluted on both sides, known as the Clovis point. (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Clovis is the name given to the distinctive tools made by people starting around 13,000 years ago. The Clovis people invented the "Clovis point," a spear-shaped weapon made of stone that is found in Texas and parts of the United States and northern Mexico and the weapons were made to hunt animals, including mammoths and mastodons, from 13,000 to 12,700 years ago.

"The findings expand our understanding of the earliest people to explore and settle North America," Waters said. "The peopling of the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age was a complex process and this complexity is seen in their genetic record. Now we are starting to see this complexity mirrored in the archaeological record."

The project was funded by The North Star Archaeological Research Program and the Elfrieda Frank Foundation.

Top image: A 15,000-year-old stemmed point is one of the oldest weapons found in North America.         Source: Image courtesy of Texas A & M University

The article, "Oldest weapons ever discovered in North America pre-date Clovis." was originally published on Science Daily.

Source: Texas A & M University. "Oldest weapons ever discovered in North America pre-date Clovis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 October 2018. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181024145552.htm

References

Michael R. Waters, Joshua L. Keene, Steven L. Forman, Elton R. Prewitt, David L. Carlson, James E. Wiederhold. Pre-Clovis projectile points at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas—Implications for the Late Pleistocene peopling of the Americas. Science Advances, 2018; 4 (10): eaat4505 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat4505

 

Comments

Well said, sir.

Ed Hanson

Gary Moran's picture

A good place to camp 13,000 years ago might have been a good spot 15 or 18K years ago too, or even farther back. I wonder how many times research has been stopped upon reaching clovis attifacts when digging deeper might have uncovered even older evidence? 

It is a real shame that reports of ffindings that do not agree with established norms are attacked. The dating methodology is attacked, artifacts are claimed to be forgeries, the provenance supposedly flawed, and the character of those reporterting is attacked. I think they will have a hard time refuting this one though. Reputable institutions and researchers with excellent credentials, but it still probably won’t be easy. Hope their data is solid to withstand the assualt.

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