Alan M Slade | The University of Texas at Austin (original) (raw)

Papers by Alan M Slade

Paleoindian Clovis points are a well-studied type whose size and shape at first use are reasonabl... more Paleoindian Clovis points are a well-studied type whose size and shape at first use are reasonably documented. Yet Clovis points probably suffered damage and experienced reduction in use. Points are divisible into modules, which may have undergone different degrees of reduction, generating allometry-changing shape with changing size-distinct from original size and shape. Recognizing allometry improves typological assignment, measures curation and gauges prehistoric behavior against theoretical models. Bivariate and multivariate tests of linear dimensions of stem and blade modules in a sample of western North American Clovis points document clear allometric patterns, blades exhibiting more positive allometry than stems. Allometry was not an original design element of points but emerges as an integral character of their use-histories that requires control before attempting other inferences.

The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021

Wild Things 2.0: Further advances in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Research. J. Walker., and D. Clinnick. (eds.). Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2019

PLoS One, 2023

Landmark-based geometric morphometrics (LGM) is most often used in archaeology to characterize an... more Landmark-based geometric morphometrics (LGM) is most often used in archaeology to characterize and differentiate groups of artifacts, but it can be used for much more. We demonstrate LGM's power to uncover new insights by exploring stone-tool allometry, modularity, and integration using a sample of 100 western North American Clovis points. Here, allometry concerns how stone tools change in shape as their size changes through their use-lives, and modularity and integration concern how the constituent parts of a tool work together. We show that Clovis points are surprisingly complex tools. When their blades and hafts are defined technologically, rather than arbitrarily, they unambiguously exhibit allometry, and their hafts and blades are modular and highly integrated. We use these analyses to further explore questions about Clovis points, including the differences between cache and noncache points. Finally, we use heuristic haft-size categories to examine functional constraints on the shape and size of hafts and blades. This work illustrates the importance of using accurate measurements of point components rather than estimates or proxies, which can lead to unfounded inferences. These analytical approaches and accompanying R code are easily transferable to other research questions of stone-tool use.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2021

Abstract Paleoindian Clovis points are a well-studied type whose size and shape at first use are ... more Abstract Paleoindian Clovis points are a well-studied type whose size and shape at first use are reasonably documented. Yet Clovis points probably suffered damage and experienced reduction in use. Points are divisible into modules, which may have undergone different degrees of reduction, generating allometry—changing shape with changing size—distinct from original size and shape. Recognizing allometry improves typological assignment, measures curation and gauges prehistoric behavior against theoretical models. Bivariate and multivariate tests of linear dimensions of stem and blade modules in a sample of western North American Clovis points document clear allometric patterns, blades exhibiting more positive allometry than stems. Allometry was not an original design element of points but emerges as an integral character of their use-histories that requires control before attempting other inferences.

Journal of Lithic Studies, Dec 21, 2021

Plains Anthropologist, 2021

Call for data on Texas Clovis fluted points

Lithics: The Journal of the Lithic Studies Society, 2019

The Kelly collection of North American stone implements, at the British Museum, London, contains ... more The Kelly collection of North American stone implements, at the British Museum, London, contains a number of Clovis fluted points from Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. All of the points selected for discussion in this publication fit the description for Clovis, with two that had previously been attributed to Folsom or Cumberland. Full reference: Slade, A.M. 2018. An early North American fluted point assemblage rediscovered: the Thomas C. Kelly Collection in the British Museum, London. Lithics: the journal of the Lithic Studies Society 39: 68–76. Keywords: Paleoindian, Clovis, fluted points, museum collections, lithic raw material.

Clovis was once considered to be the first universal lithic technology to evolve in North America... more Clovis was once considered to be the first universal lithic technology to evolve in North America, occurring between 11,050 to 10,800 radiocarbon years before present (14C yr BP). These early hunter-gatherers left behind a sparse material record of their occupation that consists primarily of stone tools and the manufacturing debris associated with their production. The trademark tool of this earliest lithic technology to evolve in North America is a fluted point named after its type site discovery in a quarry at Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, near Clovis, a town in New Mexico. These artefacts were made by widely separated groups throughout North America. The fluted points from Nova Scotia are much the same as those from New Mexico, not identical, but the similarities outweigh the differences. Not only are the fluted points similar across North America, but other technological aspects of the Clovis culture, i.e. blades, unifacial tools, and osseous tools, appear to be equally similar and widespread. In this study, the author identifies a number of Clovis and Clovis variants from seven environmentally different regions across North America. This monograph analyses the variability of Clovis fluted points and the lithic raw materials that they were produced on from a continental perspective. Complementing the research is a digital photographic dataset of the Clovis fluted points discussed, available online.

SAA Archaeological Record, 2021

n 2007 Michael Bever and David Meltzer (2007) published the third edition of the Texas Clovis Flu... more n 2007 Michael Bever and David Meltzer (2007) published the third edition of the Texas Clovis Fluted Point Survey (TCFPS), which had been initiated in 1985 (Meltzer 1985). When this third revised edition was published in 2007, the TCFPS had tallied a cumulative total of 544 Clovis points from 149 out of 254 counties in Texas (Figure 1; Table 1). It is anticipated that the next update of the TCFPS will increase that number significantly, and that some of the 105 remaining counties could yield their first Clovis points, while also adding to the numbers of Clovis points from different geographical areas of Texas (Figure 2; Table 2). The TCFPS has now been taken on by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

Plains Anthropologis, 2021

Call for data on Texas Clovis fluted points

The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021

Wild Things 2.0: Further advances in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Research. J. Walker., and D. Clinnick. (eds.). Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2019

PLoS One, 2023

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2021

Journal of Lithic Studies, Dec 21, 2021

Plains Anthropologist, 2021

Call for data on Texas Clovis fluted points

Lithics: The Journal of the Lithic Studies Society, 2019

SAA Archaeological Record, 2021

Plains Anthropologis, 2021

Call for data on Texas Clovis fluted points

MA Dissertation, May 2010

The Little River Clovis Complex: A recent acquisition for the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory University of Texas at Austin

Kentucky Clovis

Abstract Clovis fluted points vary considerably in technology and morphology, but also share a... more Abstract

Clovis fluted points vary considerably in technology and morphology, but also share a set of attributes, the most diagnostic of which are the flute scars, the remnants of the flake removals from the basal region that travelled up towards the tip. Fluting on Clovis and Clovis-like points generally extends no further than a third of the way up the face of the point. Finished points are usually ground smooth along the base and lower edges, suggesting facilitation of the hafting (attachment) to a wooden shaft or handle by way of an ivory or bone socket. The points may have been hafted directly to a mainshaft and used as a thrusting spear during close encounter attacks, or in the hand as knife or butchery tool. Alternatively, an intermediary shaft, or foreshaft may have been used to secure the point. The suggestion of foreshafts being used by Clovis hunters received support after the discovery of bone rods in association with mammoth remains and Clovis points at the type site at Blackwater Draw, New Mexico in 1936. Several other Clovis-aged sites across North America have yielded ivory and bevelled rods that have also been associated with foreshafts and the hafting of Clovis points. Scratches that are present on a couple of Clovis points made on varieties of obsidian, have been identified as being “hafting abrasion” evidence, this roughening of the surface would have helped in securing the point into the shaft or socket. In one example from the Hoyt site in Oregon, remains of a “mastic” or hafting glue was found discovered in the hafting abrasions.
This presentation will look at the evidence for Clovis hafting, the various sites where the evidence is present and as part of my current thesis research, whether the hafting of Clovis and Clovis-like fluted points affects the point’s morphology.

The Fist Americans: The Clovis Era At some time around the end of the last... more The Fist Americans: The Clovis Era

At some time around the end of the last ice age, around 11,500 14C yr B.P, the first human hunter gatherer groups entered North America where they encountered diverse environments and climates. These groups once separate and exploring these landscapes in a vast continent were hunting and killing the same megafauna; perhaps for the first time, they would have encountered mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth and camel. Other smaller, more recognisable species were also present and hunted; elk, deer and caribou and bison for example. The different environments and landscapes encountered by these separate groups may account for the extent of the variability of the fluted projectile points that are characteristic of this period. I have suggested (Slade 2010) that Clovis was not the first stone tool technology in North America and that fluted projectile points evolved from an earlier technology, and that Clovis was a localised fluted form that evolved regionally as these first groups spread out across the continent.
This was literally a vast New World and whenever and however the first hunter gatherers got there they spread out and went their own way, meeting up in larger groups swapping experiences, materials and technologies. Once the pre-Clovis technology that came with these first groups proved to be inadequate for this new environment and the different hunting strategies, the fluted projectile point evolved and spread out over North America in its different styles and forms, and became what is today regarded as Clovis and Folsom etc.
References

Slade, A. M. (2010) Clovis: What’s the Point? Unpublished Master’s Dissertation.
University of Southampton, Southampton

ANALYSIS ON REPLICA EPOXY RESIN CASTS OF CLOVIS PROJECTILES: WHAT’S THE POINT? Alan M. Slade ... more ANALYSIS ON REPLICA EPOXY RESIN CASTS OF CLOVIS PROJECTILES:
WHAT’S THE POINT?
Alan M. Slade
University of Southampton

Abstract
The study of good quality professionally produced epoxy resin casts can be an invaluable resource for reseachers, especially when researching collections from a continental perspective. Some of the assemblages may no longer be available for study, others may be in permanent storage or in private collections, and in some unfortunate cases, missing.
For my PhD research I had access to a large collection of Clovis fluted projectile point casts that were made by a highly regarded professional cast expert, J Allen Eichenberger. During the early 1960’s through to the middle 1980’s he made casts of all the Clovis points from the well-known Clovis assemblages. His collections of casts were donated to the Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History, where I was able to study these casts, and get valuable data on Clovis projectile points from across North America, Canada and Mexico.
To test whether there were considerable differences between real projectile points and the epoxy resin casts, I carried out a metric analysis on real and replica specimens of the same assemblage, results indicated that there were no significant differences. Other similar studies have proved that using good quality casts can provide a great deal of technological information (Buchannan et al 2013; Rondeau 2009)

References
Buchanan, B., M.J. O’Brien, and M. Collard. 2013 Continent-wide or region specific? A geometric morphometrics-based assessment of variation in Clovis point shape. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.1-18.

Rondeau, M.F. 2009 The Analysis of Two Fluted Point Casts from the Hoyt Site, Lake County, Oregon. CalFLUTED Research Report 59 Rondeau Archaeological, Sacremento.

PALEOINDIAN FLUTED POINT VARIABILITY AND THE PEOPLING OF NORTH AMERICA A.M. Slade Universi... more PALEOINDIAN FLUTED POINT VARIABILITY AND THE PEOPLING OF NORTH AMERICA

A.M. Slade

University of Southampton: Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins

“When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest”
(William Hazlitt 1957)

Clovis Regional Variability
The purpose of this poster is to highlight the variability within Clovis projectile points on a regional basis. I have identified 6 regions which were selected and defined more by convenience rather than distinctions in geography, climate or archaeological bias. These regional boundaries were loosely taken from Haynes (2002). The Clovis Types listed below are ones that have previously been used in the literature. There may well be more variants and I hope to identify and help to redefine Clovis-era projectile points in future studies.

Region 1: The Northeast and Nova Scotia

The Debert Type Clovis points were named after the deeply concave based points discovered at the Debert site in Nova Scotia (Fig: 1: 1) and then later at the Vail site in Maine (Fig: 1: 2). The second group are both small heavily reworked Clovis points from the eastern Pennsylvanian woodland sites of Shoop (Fig: 1: 3) and Shawnee-Minisink (Fig: 1: 4) and were termed as the E-fluted Clovis Type (Wormington 1957).

Region 2: The Southeast
This group of Clovis points are from the Aucilla River in Florida (Fig: 2: 1), Cape Pecomoth, Maryland (Fig: 2: 2) and a North Carolina isolated find (Fig: 2: 3). These points all show a certain similarity in form, and are described as Southeastern Waisted Clovis Type.

Region 3: The Great Lakes and Mid-Continent
The Eastern Style Clovis Type points described here are from the mastodon kill site at Kimmswick (Fig: 3:1), Saverton mammoth kill site in Missouri (Fig: 3: 2) and the Union County point from Illinois (Fig: 3: 3). The Rummells-Maske points (Fig: 3: 4) from a cache in Illinois have a more rounded lower section, fairly deep concave base and appear to be a transitional form and is very similar to the St Louis Clovis Type.
Region 4: Northern Plains
The group of points from this region are all associated with mammoth kills. The Colby Style Clovis Type from Wyoming is a very distinctive form with a rounded base and almost notched (Fig: 4: 1). The Dent point from Colorado (Fig: 4: 2) is a Leaf-shaped Clovis Type, with the mid-section being the broadest. The point from the Hell Gap Vicinity (Fig: 4: 3) shows similar characteristics to both forms and is very typical of many Clovis points from the region.

Region 5: Southern Plains
The Southern Plain points represented here are the Classic Clovis Type, lanceolate straight lateral edges and slightly concave bases. All three points were found in direct association with mammoth remains. The point from Blackwater Draw (Fig: 5: 1) is one of the points from the Clovis Type Site in New Mexico. The Miami point, (Fig: 5: 2) is from Texas and the Naco (Fig: 5: 3) example is from the San Pedro Valley in Arizona.
Region 6: Northwest
The final group of points are examples from what is termed as the Western Clovis Type. These points are normally all made on varieties of obsidian, as this is the most predominant raw material. The Dietz Site (Fig: 6: 1) and Hoyt (Fig: 6: 2) are in central Oregon. These forms are very similar to the Dent forms in region 4. This region is perhaps the most poorly represented of all Clovis in North America.
Comment
The Clovis Types described above do occasionally fall within two or more regions, with the possible exception of the Southeastern Waisted Clovis which is pretty much a Southeastern variant. When two or more Clovis forms are present in a sites assemblage, it can be the result of different groups of Clovis hunter gatherers meeting at camp sites or water holes bringing in their different Clovis points as represented at Blackwater Draw (Main Fig). Where a single mammoth, mastodon or caribou event occurs we see less variability in Clovis projectile points present in the archaeological record.
Acknowledgements & References
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the British Museum and the organisers of this conference for the opportunity of presenting this poster, the University of Southampton Student Research Fund for funding, and the Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History for access to their Clovis fluted point collections.
Special thanks must go to Craig Williams for his illustrations of the points and help in producing the poster.
References
Haynes, G. (2002). The Early Settlement of North America; The Clovis Era. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Hester, J. (1972). Blackwater Draw Locality No 1. Fort Burgwin Research Center SMU, Rancho de Taos.
Howard, C. (1990). The Clovis Point: Characteristics and Type Description. Plains Anthropologist. 35 (129): 255-262.
Slade, A.M. (2010). Clovis: What’s the Point? Unpublished Masters Dissertation. University of Southampton. Southampton.
Waters, M. R., and T. W. Stafford. (2007). Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas. Science 315 pp 1122-1126.
Wormington, H. M. (1957). Ancient Man in North America. 4th Edition. Denver Museum of Natural History.

Figures
Main Figure : Illustrations of Clovis fluted points from the Dent site Colorado and the Blackwater Draw site in New Mexico. Craig Williams 2011.
Figs: 1: 1 to 6: 2 Images of Clovis points taken at the Smithsonian Institute from 2010 and 2011 by A. M. Slade

CLOVIS PROJECTILE POINT TYPOLOGY: WHAT'S THE POINT? A.M. Slade University of Southampton: Cen... more CLOVIS PROJECTILE POINT TYPOLOGY: WHAT'S THE POINT?

A.M. Slade
University of Southampton: Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins

Abstract

Clovis projectile points were long regarded as the hallmark of the first human presence in North America (Haynes 2002). These early groups spread rapidly across the continent during the end of the last Ice Age at around 11,500 14C BP (Waters & Stafford 2007) leaving behind Clovis and similar fluted projectile points in all 48 inland states of North America. As an archaeological culture Clovis portrays a range of variations in technology and the projectile point has often been the primary, if not only, diagnostic means of identifying a particular assemblage as being 'Clovis'.

There is at present a real need for Clovis as a technological culture to be defined and until archaeologists and analysts agree on what is and what is not Clovis, there will always be this problem in definition due to the fact that some archaeologists and researchers call certain assemblages Clovis and others assign their projectiles to a different culture or type, even though they appear chronologically and technologically contemporaneous (David Meltzer pers. comm.)

A Clovis projectile point typology, defined by ‘stylistic variation’ may go some way in clarifying the problem and this poster is an introduction to my postgraduate research I will identify and separate some of the variations within the projectile point assemblages from well documented and archaeologically recorded Clovis sites, some projectile points that are in private collections and selected isolated point discoveries will also be included. I will also address the associated problems when dealing with a culture that is spread over a wide distance; where groups culturally similar to each other were dealt with diverse environments and climates, the challenge set to the first people to set foot in the New World and to establish how these issues contributed to Clovis projectile point variability.

References

Haynes, G. (2002). The Early Settlement of North America; The Clovis Era. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Waters, M. R., and T. W. Stafford. (2007). Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas. Science 315. pp. 1122-1126.
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BAR Publishing, 2020

The Influence of Lithic Raw Material Selection on Regional Morphological Variability of Clovis Fluted Points, 2020

Clovis was once considered to be the first universal lithic technology to evolve in North America... more Clovis was once considered to be the first universal lithic technology to evolve in North
America, occurring between 11,050 to 10,800 radiocarbon years before present (14C yr BP).
These early hunter-gatherers left behind a sparse material record of their occupation that
consists primarily of stone tools and the manufacturing debris associated with their production.
The trademark tool of this earliest lithic technology to evolve in North America is a fluted point
named after its type site discovery in a quarry at Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, near Clovis, a
town in New Mexico. These artefacts were made by widely separated groups throughout North
America. The fluted points from Nova Scotia are much the same as those from New Mexico, not
identical, but the similarities outweigh the differences. Not only are the fluted points similar
across North America, but other technological aspects of the Clovis culture, i.e. blades, unifacial
tools, and osseous tools, appear to be equally similar and widespread. In this study, the author
identifies a number of Clovis and Clovis variants from seven environmentally different regions
across North America. This monograph analyses the variability of Clovis fluted points and the
lithic raw materials that they were produced on from a continental perspective. Complementing
the research is a digital photographic dataset of the Clovis fluted points discussed, available
online.

Wild Things 2.0: Further Advances in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Research, 2019

At some time around the end of the last ice age, around 11,500 14 C yr BP / 13,300 Cal yrs, the f... more At some time around the end of the last ice age, around 11,500 14 C yr BP / 13,300 Cal yrs, the first human hunter-gatherer groups entered North America, where they encountered diverse environments and climates. These groups, once separate and exploring these landscapes in a vast continent, were hunting and killing the same megafauna; perhaps for the first time, they would have encountered mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth and camel. Other smaller, more recognisable species were also present and hunted; elk, deer, caribou and bison, for example. The different environments and landscapes encountered by these separate groups may account for the extent of the variability of the fluted projectile points that are characteristic of this period. In my thesis research I suggest that Clovis was not the first stone-tool technology in North America, that fluted projectile points evolved from an earlier technology and that Clovis was a localised fluted form that evolved regionally as these first groups spread out across the continent.