The Clovis people is the name archaeologists have given to the earliest well-established human culture in the North American continent, although probably not the first--that is called Pre-Clovis.
Clovis archaeological sites are dated between 11,000-10,800 RCYBP (which converts to circa 12,800-12,900 calendar years before the present) and they are found pretty much throughout North America. The point and culture are named after the town in New Mexico near where it was first identified, although the name of type site is officially Blackwater Draw Locality 1.
The Clovis people were big game hunters of mammoth and bison exercised by a highly mobile hunting strategy. Despite the brevity of the culture (under 500 years), Clovis sites are found throughout the United States, northern Mexico and southern Canada. An equivalent big-game hunting lifestyle in South America is characterized by Fishtail Points. Very few large Clovis sites are known--the largest is the Gault site in Texas.
Sources
See glossary entries on Blackwater Draw, Gault, Fishtail and Pre-Clovis for more information.
Boldurian, Anthony T. 1991 Folsom mobility and organization of lithic technology: A view from Blackwater Draw, New Mexico. Plains Anthropologist 36(137):281-295.
Meltzer, David J. and Michael B. Collins 1987 Prehistoric water wells on the Southern High Plains: Clues to Altithermal climate. Journal of Field Archaeology 149-28.
Seebach, John D. 2002 Stratigraphy and Bonebed Taphonomy at Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1 during the Middle Holocene (Altithermal). Plains Anthropologist 47(183):339-358.
Michael R. Waters and Thomas W. Stafford Jr. 2007. Redefining the age of Clovis: Implications for the peopling of the Americas. Science 315:1122-1126.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
