Volume 30, Number 1 Center for the Study of the First Americans Department of Anthropology January, 2015 Texas A&M University, 4352 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4352 ISSN 8755-6898

World Wide Web site http://centerfirstamericans.org and http://anthropology.tamu.edu

4 & 5 ! Side-by-side stories: what scientists have learned from his skeletal remains, and the legal battle they had to fight for the right to analyze them. 11 Another round in the Clovis Comet fracas Craters are an unresolved issue. Now the debate is whether Black Mats and European Usselo Horizons are the fingerprints of TheClovis Diet: an ET event. 15 The Central American Land Bridge (a.k.a. the Isthmus of Mostly ? Panama): the gateway to South American colonization? he debate has raged in the which they presented at the 2013 Paleo- Clovis-age and pre-Clovis sites literature since the late 1960s: Did american Odyssey conference (MT 29-1, may be long-term occupations, or Clovis people specialize in hunt- “The Conference That Was!”) and which the temporary camps of migrants, ing big game? Were they responsible for appears in the companion book, Paleo- perhaps boat people, passing through. The answer, however, wipingTT out the ? Or american Odyssey, published by the Center may lie fathoms deep offshore is our understanding of the Clovis way of for the Study of the First Americans. They in the Pacific Ocean. life clouded by too much attention to the concluded that the Clovis diet varied from archaeological record of the Southwest, region to region, but overlying this vari- where Clovis points have been found with ability was a focus on big game, indeed the , in New several skeletons? And is even biggest game, whenever and wherever it , Miami in Texas, and Lehner that record biased by the higher archaeo- was available. in Arizona. These discoveries sug- logical visibility of mammoth versus deer gested the possibility that Clovis or rabbit kills? The debate hunters were specifically targeting Gary Haynes and his graduate student Clovis was first recognized as a late-Pleis- mammoths, though until the late Jarod Hutson reviewed the evidence in tocene when Clovis 1960s most archaeologists appear to their paper “Clovis-era subsistence: Re- points were found in association have assumed that big game consti- gional variability, continental patterning,” with mammoths at sites such as Dent in tuted only a portion of the Clovis diet. 2 Volume 30 n Number 1

In 1967, the late Paul Martin began erally non-extinct species, so the sample indian people chose small game more to make his famous “blitzkrieg” argu- of Clovis kill sites must be biased in favor often that we see in the archaeologi- ment that the was directly of big game. In addition, the chronology cal record.” Indeed, citing the work of responsible for the of mam- of big-game isn’t estab- Todd Surovell and Nicole Waguespack, moths and other lished, so some of the Pleistocene big- Haynes and Hutson argue that “Clovis- in . Certainly, the appear- game species may have become extinct era people clearly decided to hunt big ance of Clovis appeared to coincide with centuries before the appearance of Clovis. game even when smaller animals must Haynes and Hutson agree that large have been more abundant.” They submit mammal bones likely are better pre- that while some might call this “spe- served and easier to find, but they note cialization,” it is instead “a strong and that this “does not prove that Paleo­ rational preference.” riston W The Mammoth Trumpet (ISSN 8755-6898) is published quarterly by the Center for eresa T the Study of the First Americans, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, Haynes in Zimbabwe sorting through dry- College Station, TX 77843-4352. Phone (979) 845-4046; fax (979) 845-4070; e-mail screened ­sediments at an NSF-funded [email protected]. Periodical postage paid at College Station, TX 77843-4352 and at ad- rockshelter excavation. ditional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: the disappearance of many species of Mammoth Trumpet Pleistocene large mammals in the Ameri- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University cas as well as in other parts of the world. 4352 TAMU Several archaeologists have criticized College Station, TX 77843-4352 Martin’s arguments and conclusions. Copyright © 2015 Center for the Study of the First Americans. Permission is hereby Donald Grayson and David Meltzer are given to any non-profit or educational organization or institution toreproduce ­ without cost any materials from the Mammoth Trumpet so long as they are then distributed at no more than actual cost. The Center further requests that notification of reproduction of materials under these conditions be sent to the Center. Address correspondence to the editor of Mammoth Trumpet, 2122 Scout Road, Lenoir, NC 28645. Michael R. Waters Director and General Editor e-mail: [email protected] Ted Goebel Associate Director and Editor, PaleoAmerica e-mail: [email protected] James M. Chandler Editor, Mammoth Trumpet e-mail: [email protected] Christel Cooper Office Manager e-mail: [email protected] C & C Wordsmiths Layout and Design AlphaGraphics Printing and mailing Web site: www.alphagraphics.com

utson World Wide Web site http://centerfirstamericans.com H The Center for the Study of the First Americans is a non-profit organization. Subscrip- arod J tion to the ­Mammoth Trumpet is by membership in the Center.­ Hutson at the entrance of a hyena den near Ngamo Pan in Hwange National Park, Mammoth Trumpet, Statement of Our Policy ­Zimbabwe, August 2011. Many years may pass between the time an important discovery is made and the acceptance of research results by the scientific community. To facilitate communication among all parties interested in staying abreast of breaking news in First Americans studies, the Mammoth Trumpet, a news magazine, among the principal critics of what has provides a forum for reporting and discussing new and potentially controversial information important to been called the Overkill hypothesis. They understanding the peopling of the Americas. We encourage submission of articles to the Managing Editor observed that the bones of large animals and letters to the Editor. Views published in the Mammoth Trumpet are the views of contributors, and do not reflect the views of the editor or Center personnel. are preferentially preserved and discov- –Michael R. Waters, Director ered relative to bones of smaller and gen- January n 2015 3

As for the timing of megafaunal extinctions, Haynes and mals, Clovis sites also very rarely yield evidence of plant foods, Hutson agreed that some data now suggest that a decline in the such as hawthorn nuts, goosefoot seeds, and black­berries. abundance of big game did precede the appearance of Clovis. Given the generally poor preservation of plant remains at They attribute this decline to hunting by proto-Clovis foragers most archaeological sites, Haynes and Hutson acknowledge who shared the “strong and rational preference” for the meat that “the proportion of plant foods in the Clovis-era diet is very of the largest game available. difficult to know.” Nevertheless, they conclude that “plant Haynes and Hutson draw upon several lines of evidence to foods must have featured regularly in Late Glacial diets” (MT build their case for a Clovis diet that, although variable, focused 29-3, “Clovis spear points used to process plants”). How- on big-game. First and foremost is the direct empirical evi- ever, the absence of much evidence for specialized grinding dence of food remains at at Clovis-era sites at least Clovis and proto-Clovis means that they weren’t eating a lot of sites. This could include acorns or grass seeds, which would “bones with cutmarks become “the staples of many later or burned seeds in fire (post-Clovis, Archaic) groups.” features” as well as pro- tein residues preserved Beyond the physical evidence on the working edges of There are avenues to understanding stone . the lives and diets of early Paleoin- Ethnographic analo- dians that go beyond the empirical gies provide a second evidence. One of these avenues is eth- line of evidence, and a nographic analogy, which involves third consists of applica- using recent hunting and gathering waters . tions of various relevant r cultures as potential models for the social theories, such as behavior of ancient hunters and gath-

optimal foraging theory, michael to gain insight into what sorts of foods a Where mammoth once roamed: Blackwater Draw, hypothetical “optimal forager” would tend (above), and Duewall-Newberry, Texas. to eat considering the resources available Clovis artifacts were found in association with in a given environment. ­mammoth remains at the Blackwater Draw site. Although no artifacts were found at the Duewall- Clovis-era diets: The evidence Newberry site, it appears to be of Clovis age. The direct evidence for the diets of Clovis age people includes 19 sites at which mam- erers. Haynes and Hutson acknowledge that mal bones and Clovis artifacts have been there are “possibly unknowable differences found in relatively clear association. These between modern peoples and late Pleisto- include the classic Clovis sites of Dent cene populations.” Nevertheless, they and Blackwater Draw as well as Eastern observe that some ethnographically studied sites that may be the same age or slightly groups actively pursued large mammals “in younger. Eleven sites include the remains spite of high risks and costs.” Such activity, of at least 56 mammoths. There are also 33 however, may be more about males showing bison from 6 sites, 14 hare or cottontail rab- off than simply meeting dietary require- bits from 2 sites, and 11 deer from 3 sites. ments ( “The Big-Game Hunting arlson MT 28-1, Other species of large and small game rep- C Conundrum”). avid resented in smaller numbers include 2 mast- D Haynes and Hutson also consider the theo- odons from one site, 9 horses from two sites, 3 caribou from three retical expectations for Clovis diet based on “Optimization sites, 8 prairie dogs from one site, and 8 deer mice from one site. Theory,” but reject such theoretical models as a reliable guide. In addition to the sites with preserved animal bones, there For example, they assert that using this theory it could be ar- are nine sites that have produced Clovis-age stone tools with gued that “mammoths would not have been deliberately hunted traces of blood identified on their edges. Five of these sites [by Clovis hunters], because mammoths were rapidly becom- had tools that tested positive for cervid (caribou or deer) blood, ing extinct at the time fluted-point makers were seeking food.” three had tools that tested positive for “elephant” (mammoth or The logic of this argument would appear to be based on the idea ) blood. Two sites included tools stained with bovid that species that are hard to locate due to their rarity would be (bison or musk ox) blood, and two sites had tools with horse suboptimal choices to hunt. blood preserved on their edges. Evidence for small game in- Donald Grayson, an archaeologist whom Haynes and - cluded tools bearing blood residues from hare or rabbit at two son identified as an opponent of Pleistocene Overkill, says that sites, and dog and mouse at one site. Optimal Foraging Theory doesn’t support the notion that Clo- In addition to the bones of large and sometimes small mam- continued on page 19 4 Volume 30 n Number 1 nstitution I k, C lar mithsonian S C hip Ambassador from Our Ancient Past

ennewick man is the most famous The orientation of the remains of Kennewick Man as Paleoamerican skeleton ever discov- they were discovered eroding from the bank of the tafford K ered. After the recent publication of a ­Columbia River. The site has since been covered over S W. new book edited by Douglas Owsley, Curator with tons of rubble by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. homas of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian T Institution, and Richard Jantz, Emeritus Professor of Anthropol- American Indians, died when he was between 35 and 40 years ogy at the University of Tennessee, he also is the most intensively old. He stood around five feet seven inches tall and weighed studied and reported. The book, Kenne wick Man: The Scientific about 160 pounds. According to Benjamin Auerbach, Associ- Investigation of an Ancient American skeleton, includes the ate Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of contributions of an international team of 51 scholars and scien- Tennessee, compared with American Indians of the historic tists representing at least 35 universities, museums, and other era, Kennewick Man was “tall, broad-bodied, and massive.” His institutions. This team of researchers has given us an unprec- body proportions indicate his ancestors lived in a cold climate edented look at the life and times of a man who lived in the Pacific (MT 28-3, “Early skeletons point to a single source population Northwest sometime between about 8700 and 8400 calybp. for the First American”). D. Troy Case, Associate Professor of Physical Anthropology at He had strong legs. Owsley and Jantz conclude that he “sel- North Carolina State University and a contributor to the volume, dom ran long distances, but rather sprinted for short distances, writes that Kennewick Man is “an excep- making sudden turns and stops.” They further tionally eloquent example of osteo- argue that “he routinely walked in shallow but biography.” We know many facts fast-moving water, probably to catch fish.” He

about this human being and even Spokane had an ear condition, popularly referred to as poignant details—in his youth, for Seattle Surfer’s ear, a “result of frequent contact with example, he had a pleasing smile. cold water,” but this likely had no significant Kennewick Man isn’t one of the effect on his hearing. very first Americans, but he’s the He had large hands and was right-handed. His earliest American for whom we can Kennewick right arm was significantly more developed that write such a relatively complete biog- his left—an asymmetry that suggests to Daniel Vancouver raphy. What else have we learned about this Wescott, Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology man whom Owsley and Jantz refer to as an ambassador from at Texas State University, that he “engaged in habitual spearing America’s ancient past? or harpooning of fish and mammals in fast-flowing rivers and streams and along the ocean coast.” Owsley and Jantz identify Who was Kennewick Man? other activities that Kennewick Man likely engaged in, including Kennewick Man, or the Ancient One as he is called by some continued on page 8 January n 2015 5 nstitution I k, C lar mithsonian S C hip

ouglas owsley and richard jantz have pro- the government in order to halt or at least delay reburial and duced a landmark study of Kennewick Man—the thereby give scientists the opportunity to study the remains. D nearly 9,000-year-old human skeleton recovered Given the likelihood that the court case would generate nega- from the muddy bank of the Columbia River back in 1996. tive publicity, they would have to sue as private citizens so as However, without an eight-year legal battle, this study would not to draw their institutions into the legal quagmire. never have happened. Alan Schneider and Paula Barran, the In an interview published in Smithsonian magazine, Owsley attorneys for the scientists who sued the U.S. government for said that when he told his wife, Susan, that he was going to the right to study this amazing skeleton, tell the story in one of sue the U. S. government, she asked, “Are we going to lose our the chapters in the just-published book Kennewick Man: The home?” He replied that he honestly didn’t know, but that “this Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American skeleton. was one of those extremely rare and important discoveries that The Owsley and Jantz volume is the most comprehensive come once in a lifetime. If we lost it. . . . Unthinkable.” Setting Precedents: A Legal Odyssey

The team of scientists and lawyers meet at CSFA, Texas A&M University, September 2002. From left, attorney Alan Schneider (seated); Cleone Hawkin- son, Schneider’s paralegal assistant; Thomas Stafford, specialist in from nstitution I the University of Aarhus, Denmark; Dennis Stanford (seated) of the Smithsonian Institution; Robson mithsonian Bonnichsen, then Director of CSFA; k, S k, Michael Waters (seated), current lar

C Director of CSFA; Douglas Owsley tudio hip S C of the Smithsonian; Paula Barran

analysis of any Paleoamerican skeleton ever published. It raises Keene (inset), Schneider’s co-counsel. the bar for future studies of ancient human remains and sheds a remarkable amount of light on the life and times of this am- A brief history of the Kennewick Man case bassador from Paleoamerica. Contributing to the volume are Kennewick Man was discovered quite by accident July 28, 51 scholars representing 35 institutions—and two attorneys. 1996. The Benton County coroner contacted James Chatters, What are they doing here in the company of all those scientists? a local archaeologist, to assist with evaluating the remains. Ironically, this study of Kennewick Man came about because Chatters examined the bones that had been found, then went the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers initially decreed that no to the discovery site and collected more bones. Based on a studies whatsoever would be done on these remains. Instead, superficial examination of the skull and a scatter of historic they would be given to a coalition of American Indian tribes for artifacts observed at the site, Chatters initially thought the immediate reburial. Given the immense, unprecedented scien- individual might be a European American pioneer. But then tific importance of this amazingly complete and well-preserved he noticed that the teeth were worn to an unusually severe de- skeleton and the arbitrary nature of the decision made by gree and observed a stone lodged in the pelvis. the Corps, ­Owsley and seven other scientists decided to sue These aspects suggested the remains might be prehistoric 6 Volume 30 n Number 1

rather than historic. To determine which of these alternatives court directed the Corps “to fully re-open this matter, to gather was correct, he sent off a sample of bone for radiocarbon dat- additional evidence, to take a fresh look at the legal issues ing. The results indicated that Kennewick Man was more than involved” and to make a decision based on a more thorough 8,000 years old. review of all the evidence. At this news, a number of local Native American tribes be- came outraged that destructive testing had been done without Burying history their consent. They demanded that the remains be given to In conjunction with their efforts to study the remains of Ken- them for reburial. newick Man, some of the scientists requested permission to On August 30, the Army Corps took possession of the return to the discovery site to conduct an investigation. A host skeleton. According to administrative record of the Corps in of questions could only be answered by such a study. Was the this case, “The Corps was resolved to demonstrate that it was burial site part of a larger occupation? Were there artifacts ‘a compassionate and supportive partner of the tribes.’ ” The present that might clarify the cultural affiliation of Kennewick Corps assured the tribes that the bones would not be “subjected Man? Were there other ancient burials in the area? Did the site to further desecration via scientific study.” contain clues to what the environment was like at the time of On September 17, the Corps announced that “the skeleton Kennewick Man? would be given to a coalition of four tribes The coalition of tribes and one unrecognized band.” October that wanted to rebury the 24 was the date set for transferring the remains of Kennewick remains to the coalition. Man, whom they had be- At this news, Douglas Owsley, head gun referring to as the of the Division of Physical Anthropol- Ancient One, objected to ogy at the Smithsonian Institution, and disturbing the site. As a other scientists requested permission to compromise, the Corps de- study the skeleton before the transfer. cided to conduct its own The Corps refused to grant permission less-invasive investigation. because of the religious and other objec- The scientists could sit on tions of the tribal coalition. the sidelines and watch. Seeing no alternative, Owsley helped The result was predict- assemble a Dream Team of top scientists, able. Schneider and Barran point out that the Corps Discovery site on the shore of Lake Wallula itself would eventually showing exposed habitat where the bones admit that “its investiga- of Kennewick Man were found. Photo- tions had failed to establish hatters

graphed looking east, June 29, 1996. C the site’s characteristics ames J or boundaries or to deter- who sued the Corps to halt the transfer and to allow them mine whether the site contained ‘any additional in situ and the opportunity to study the remains. The team of plaintiffs/ significant archaeological resources.’ ” scientists included three archaeologists: the late Robson Bon- In spite of those failures, the Corps decided it was time to nichsen, founding Director of the Center for the Study of the preserve the site from further erosion—and further study. It First Americans; Dennis Stanford, Director of the Smithsonian came up with a plan to bury the site with rocks and earth and Institution’s Paleoindian Program; C. , now Pro- then plant rows of trees across it. The scientists objected fessor Emeritus of Anthropology at the ; to the plan, but the Corps decided to proceed regardless. and five physical anthropologists: Owsley; C. Loring Brace, Schneider and Barran assert that the tribes wanted the site now Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of “covered as soon as possible”—“and so did the White House.” Michigan; George Gill, Professor of Anthropology at the Uni- Both houses of Congress passed bills to prohibit the Corps versity of Wyoming; Richard Jantz, now Professor Emeritus of from proceeding with their plan without prior approval of the Anthropology and Director Emeritus of the Forensic Anthro- district court. The Corps announced it would comply with the pology Center at the University of Tennessee Knoxville; and bills, and Congress went on recess for Easter with the legisla- D. Gentry Steele, Professor of Anthropology at Texas A&M tion temporarily held up in conference committee. During the University (now deceased). These men became the plaintiffs recess, between April 6 and 14, the Corps hastily implemented in the court case. their plan and used helicopters to bury the site under a million Attorneys Barran and Schneider filed a lawsuit in the federal pounds of boulders, rocks, and sand. district court in Portland, , to stop the transfer of the During the subsequent legal proceedings, the U.S. Court of remains. After an emergency hearing the Corps agreed to post- Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the government could pone the transfer. After a series of motions, counter-motions, point to “scant or no evidence of cultural similarities between and hearings, the court ruled 27 June 1997 to set aside all deci- Kennewick Man and modern Indians,” but added in a footnote sions of the Corps regarding the fate of Kennewick Man. The to the decision that the opportunity to discover such evidence January n 2015 7

had been deliberately foreclosed by the precipitous decision Legal precedents made by the Corps to bury the site. Schneider and Barran conclude their review of the Kennewick Man case by considering all the legal precedents set by the The Department of the Interior investigation case. They point out that these precedents “may be as signifi- After the court ordered the Corps to take a fresh look at the is- cant as the scientific study results.” sues and conduct a more thorough review of the evidence, the The Kennewick Man case represents the first time that Corps asked the Department of the Interior (DOI) for advice and “scientists or anyone seeking to assert the interests of science” counsel. The DOI chief consulting archaeologist, Francis McMa- challenged a federal agency’s nagpra decisions. Schneider namon, responded with an opinion letter stating that all human and Barran assert that the Kennewick Man lawsuit “changed remains in the older than “the historically docu- the course of federal cultural resource management in ways mented arrival of Euro- scarcely imagined a decade before.” pean explorers” should Among the most far-reaching prec- be regarded as “Native edents established by the decisions in American” and were the Kennewick Man case, Schneider therefore subject to dis- and Barran list the following. position under nagpra. With that issue settled, Interpreting nagpra The decision at least to the satisfaction established the right of scientists “to of the DOI, McManamon challenge agency over-interpretation nstitution

assembled his own team I of nagpra.” The government argued to collect background that the only people with standing archaeological and his- to challenge nagpra­ decisions were torical information from mithsonian people who had a right under the terms published sources. S k, of nagpra to claim the human remains lar

On the basis of the C or objects in question. The courts de- hip

DOI team’s results, Sec- C cided that scientists do, indeed, have a retary of the Interior Bruce Babbit issued a de- s termination letter awarding Kennewick Man to The Dream Team gets the opportunity to study the Tribal Claimants. The Corps reaffirmed its Kennewick Man at the Burke Museum of the Univer- decision to refuse to allow the plaintiff scientists sity of Washington, December 2004. From left, the to study the skeleton. The plaintiffs responded late Robson Bonnichsen, then Director of the Center by filing a motion to set aside the findings of the for the Study of the First Americans; Alan Schneider,

nstitution the scientists’ attorney; Douglas Owsley of the

DOI. I ­Smithsonian Institution; Thomas Stafford of the District Court decisions University of Aarhus, Denmark (face hidden); and Hugh Berryman of Middle Tennessee State University. After 14 months of deliberation, U.S. Magistrate mithsonian k, S k,

John Jelderks ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (MT s Jantz collecting metric data for craniometric lar

18-1, “Judge rules scientists can study Kenne- C ­analysis of the Kennewick Man skull. hip wick Man” ). Schneider and Barran summarize C the decision as follows: “The court found that the Secretary’s personal interest in nagpra decisions: “They propose to person- award of the skeleton to the Tribal Claimants was contrary to ally conduct tests on the remains, and to analyze the results of both applicable law and the evidence in the case. . . . Rather those tests. This data will then be used to further their ongoing than remanding the case to the agencies for new administrative research.” The court decided that this constituted sufficient proceedings as is customary when agency determinations are grounds for standing. set aside, the court entered a final judgment in favor of plaintiffs allowing them to study the skeleton.” Defining “Native American” The decision established The government and three of the Tribal Claimants appealed that the term “Native American” in nagpra was restricted, the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals by the plain language of the law, its objectives, and its court affirmed the district court’s decision and order. Owsley’s legislative history, only to human remains that have a “spe- Dream Team could study Kennewick Man (MT 19-1, “Major cial and significant genetic or cultural relationship” to a Decision: Kennewick Man Case”). presently existing federally recognized tribe, people or Actually, it turned out to be a bit more complicated than culture. This will, in effect, limit valid nagpra claims to that. According to Schneider and Barran, “Even with two court remains that are not much more than a few hundred years orders in plaintiff’s favor, gaining access to the skeleton was old. This doesn’t, of course, mean that Kennewick Man not routine or easy.” Ultimately, the scientist-plaintiffs were cannot be the ancestor of some or all modern American able to conduct their studies in July 2005 and February 2006. Indians. It just means that there can be no special rela- The amazing results are reported in the companion article. tionship between him and any particular modern tribe. 8 Volume 30 n Number 1

Balancing and repatriation Schneider and archaeological site. They will also have to reassess their poli- Barran conclude with the observation that, in the light of the cies and procedures to ensure that they act as truly neutral and Kennewick Man decisions, “museums and federal agencies will unbiased decision makers when confronted with challenges to have to change their criteria for making nagpra classifications repatriation claims.” of ancient human remains, and for how they evaluate repatria- These outcomes may indeed be “as significant as the scien- tion claims. . . . Federal agencies will have to take more care tific study results.” when undertaking activities that might adversely affect an – Brad Lepper

Suggested Readings Benedict, J. 2003 No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smith- Owsley, D. W., and R. L. Jantz, editors 2014 Kennewick Man: The sonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle For America’s Oldest Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton. Texas Skeletons. HarperCollins, New York. A&M University Press, College Station. Lepper, B. 2002 Judge rules scientists can study Kennewick Man. Preston, D. 2014 The 9,000-year-old man speaks. Smithsonian Mammoth Trumpet 18 (1):1–3, 18–19. 45(5):52–63. ——— 2003 Major decision: Kennewick Man case. Mammoth Schneider, A. L., and P. A. Barran 2014 The precedent-setting case Trumpet 19 (1):1, 3–4, 18–19. of Kennewick Man. In Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation ——— 2004 Kennewick Man decision upheld by Court of Appeals. of an Ancient American Skeleton, pp. 90–107. Texas A&M Univer- Mammoth Trumpet 19 (2):1–2, 18–19. sity Press, College Station.

ogy, concludes that much of Eurasia 12,000 years ago “was Ambassador from Our Ancient Past inhabited by an extensive network of related peoples of a generalized and basic Caucasoid appearance. Beyond Europe continued from page 4 these people were particularly prevalent in coastal and south- throwing a spear with a spear thrower, flintknapping, poling a ern Asia and were typified by high, long skulls, prominent boat, and netting fish in the river or ocean. chins and noses, modest cheek bones, and parabolic palates.” Far to the north, in colder inland areas, Gill believes there Where did he come from? lived people with Mongoloid skeletal characteristics. He sug- Based on characteristics of the skull and face, C. Loring Brace, gests that these two populations entered America by two sepa- Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at rate routes—following the the University of Michigan, and his col- coastline in small boats, or leagues conclude that Kennewick Man walking dry shod across appears most similar to the Ainu, the 0 5 the Bering Land Bridge indigenous peoples of Japan, and Poly- cm (MT 29-4, “Tracking Pa- nesians. Jantz and Katherine Spradley, leoamerican Migrations Associate Professor of Biological Anthro- with Mitogenomes”). Gill pology at Texas State University, came thinks Kennewick Man be- to the same conclusion, noting that his longed to the former group. proportions were particularly close to Is there other evidence the Moriori of New Zealand. They cau- forC.) linking him to the Pacific tion, however, that the similarity of Ken- Rim? In spite of the fact newick Man to Polynesians “obviously tenger( that he was buried more does not suggest a direct connection with than 200 miles from the Pa- lisonS cific Ocean along the banks ; A ; Haskett points. The area bounded by of the Columbia River, the oreto chemical composition of his the represents the portion found L i lodged in the hip bone of Kennewick Man. bones suggests he didn’t eat amesD J terrestrial game animals Polynesians. Rather it suggests that early Americans and Polyne- such as bison or elk. Instead, it appears he subsisted on a lim- sians have roots in the same Asian populations, probably those ited variety of resources available along the coast, including inhabiting coastal areas and using watercraft to exploit marine seals, salmon, and possibly birds. Owsley and Jantz observe resources.” This is an especially important point because in the that his bone-collagen isotope values are most similar to docu- popular media, Kennewick Man has been portrayed variously as mented Pacific coastal populations “with diets based primarily either a Caucasian or a Polynesian with all the simplistic migra- on marine mammals.” tion scenarios implied by those categorizations. Additionally, the predominant variety, or isotope, of oxygen George Gill, Professor Emeritus of Biological Anthropol- in his bones indicates that for at least the last 10 years of his January n 2015 9

life the water he drank didn’t come from the Columbia River. Jantz conclude that Kennewick Man broke five ribs on his right Owsley and Jantz conclude that he “drank cold river water side and another on the left as the result of a “severe blunt-force originating in high-elevation snow or glacial melt.” trauma.” As a result of his “vigorous lifestyle” the ribs weren’t Kennewick Man’s teeth also point to a Northern coastal home- allowed to heal. Finally, Kennewick Man has two small depres- land. His teeth are heavily worn. Brace and his colleagues found sion fractures in his skull. None of these old wounds, however, that 23 of his 30 teeth exhibit the most severe degree of wear in appears to be directly related to his death. their classification system. They note that the wear pattern is Kennewick Man died at the age of about 40. There is no clear highly reminiscent of the wear seen in the teeth of pre-contact evidence of the cause of death, but 40 years would have been a Eskimos. Among the Eskimo, this extreme wear results from us- reasonably long life for a hunter-gatherer of this period. By the ing teeth as tools when working hides. Owsley and Jantz observe time of his death, his teeth were so badly worn that orthodontist that “an unusually rounded first molar suggests he habitually held John Hayes supposes he was likely experiencing “varying levels cordage or a similar material between his teeth on the right side.” of daily discomfort and even pain.” The extreme wear on the teeth also could be the result of a diet that included food containing an abra- Was he deliberately buried? sive substance. According to Della Collins Initially, because the bones had already eroded Cook, Professor of Biological Anthropology out of the river bank when they were discovered, at University, dried fish are “notori- investigators weren’t sure whether Kennewick Man ously abrasive.” Alternatively, flour made by was intentionally buried in a grave or if his body grinding nuts or seeds in a sandstone mortar was simply covered with naturally deposited river contains grains of highly abrasive sand. sediments. Detailed observations by Owsley and Jantz’s team establish conclusively that Kennewick Injuries picture a brutal life Kennewick Man sustained a variety of inju- The hip bone of Kennewick Man, with the embedded R ouse ries over the course of his life severe enough tip of a Haskett projectile point (). The inset shows

tephen to be recorded in his bones. As a young adult, S the angle at which the spear penetrated the body. he received a spear wound to the ➙ right hip. The spear entered from Man was deliberately buried in a the right rear, as if he had turned to carefully prepared grave, which the left to try to avoid the incoming offers insights into who he was and spear. The point became embedded the mortuary practices of this early in the bone, but there is no sign in period of American history. the bone that the wound became Owsley, Jantz, and their team nstitution

infected, nor is there any evidence I carefully recorded the locations of that Kennewick Man favored his left carbonate-cemented sediment on leg in later years, so this potentially the various bones of Kennewick grievous wound apparently healed mithsonian Man. These data show he was laid completely. S k, to rest on his back in an extended lar

Dennis Stanford, Director of C position with his head slightly el- hip the Smithsonian Institution’s Pa- C evated. His arms appear to have leoindian/Paleoecology Program, believes that the spear must been positioned beside his body with the palms of his hands have been hurled with great force to inflict such a wound and facing down. concludes it must have been thrown with the aid of a spear These data also showed that Kennewick Man’s grave had been thrower, or atlatl. He identifies the projectile point as a heavily re- dug so that his head was about seven inches higher than his feet. worked Haskett point. Haskett points, hallmarks of the Western His body was buried parallel to the river with his head to the east, Stemmed Tradition, have been dated to 12,000–9000 calybp. which was upstream. His left side was closer to the river. Naturally this only identifies the cultural affiliation of the person No artifacts were recovered with the bones. Many Paleo- who threw the spear, not necessarily that of the man hit by it. american burials lack funerary offerings, so their absence Cook thinks that it would be wrong to presume that the in this case may be unremarkable. However, because of the projectile-point wound “resulted from interpersonal violence circumstances of the discovery and recovery of Kennewick rather than from a hunting accident or any other scenario.” Ow- Man’s remains, it’s possible that funerary objects originally sley, on the other hand, told CBS News, “I think this is something were present, but were lost in the muck of the river bed. that’s intentionally lobbed at this man with the intention of killing him.” Owsley’s view is supported by the relatively high incidence Unanswered questions of traumatic injuries in documented Paleoamericans. Moreover, Owsley and Jantz believe that their book presents “the most this wound and other unrelated traumatic injuries all point to a complete analysis of any Paleoamerican skeleton to date.” Nev- pattern of interpersonal violence in the life of Kennewick Man. ertheless, they and the various contributors to the volume realize Later in life, a few years before his death in fact, Owsley and that much more remains to be learned from Kennewick Man. 10 Volume 30 n Number 1

Ancient dna extracted from Kennewick Man’s teeth and low, grave—not a trivial task if you don’t have a metal shovel. bones could provide direct evidence of his ancestry. Was he a What was Kennewick Man doing so far from home? Was he recent immigrant from Asia or simply a wide-ranging Paleo- on a trading venture, a visit to a son or daughter who had mar- american? Identifying ancient proteins in the bones “may offer ried into a distant group, or perhaps a vision quest? Whatever a potential way to determine the cause of Kennewick Man’s Kennewick Man’s motives for being in this place, so distant death.” and different from his homeland, it seems plausible to suppose Henry Schwarcz, Professor Emeritus of Geography and he was journeying up the Columbia River—a journey inter- Earth Sciences at McMaster University, rupted by his death. Someone, perhaps and his coauthors would like to analyze the fellow travelers or local friends, gave him a varieties of chemicals in the enamel of Ken- respectful burial on the river bank to send newick Man’s teeth, which would provide him on the final journey to “the undiscov- insights into the environment of his youth ered country from whose bourn no traveler as well as his early diet. Stanford argues that returns.” X-ray fluorescence analysis of the projectile But Kennewick Man did return in 1996, point “may not only shed light on the type of and Doug Owsley, Richard Jantz, and the point in Kennewick Man’s hip, but may also team of scholars they assembled devoted help to determine Kennewick Man’s origin, the next 18 years first to securing the right where his travels may have taken him, and to study the remains of this ancient Ameri- where he was when he received his injury.” can, then to listening attentively to the sto- Moreover, Owsley and Jantz acknowledge ries only he could tell. that “as science progresses, additional stud- For Owsley, at least, the monumental ies beyond those suggested here will be- biography of Kennewick Man that he and come possible.” Jantz have produced isn’t the final word. As he told CBS News, “I feel like the skeleton Ambassador from our ancient past is just beginning to talk to us and we need to Dorothy Lippert, archaeologist and Choctaw carry on that conversation.” Indian, wrote in 2005 that “in the end, what – Brad Lepper we may be able to learn from the skeleton of this man [the Ancient One/Kennewick How to contact the principals of this article: Man] is all we could learn from any one of Douglas Owsley ourselves: He was a human being, just like Department of Anthropology us.” Owsley, Jantz and the impressive team National Museum of Natural History of scientists and scholars they assembled MRC 112 demonstrate in their monumental study of Smithsonian Institution this skeleton that we can learn far more than 10th and Constitution Avenue NW that. Kennewick Man: The Scientific Inves- Washington, DC 20560 tigation of an Ancient American skeleton is e-mail: [email protected] nothing less than a biography of a man who nstitution lived around 8,500 years ago. I Richard Jantz What, beyond the fact that he was a human Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus, being, have we learned about Kennewick Forensic Anthropology Center

Man? mithsonian 250 South Stadium Hall k, S k, Knoxville, TN 37996-0720 lar

The skeletal remains of Kennewick Man. C e-mail: [email protected] hip C He was tall and broad-shouldered, a formidable fellow profi- cient with atlatl and spear or the fishing spear. He was around Suggested Readings 40 years old, a respectable age for that time. In his youth he had Benedict, J. 2003 No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smith- sonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle For America’s Oldest a pleasant smile, but years of hard living had taken that from Skeletons. HarperCollins, New York. him. He bore other traces of that hard life: a spear point still Owsley, D. W., and R. L. Jantz, editors 2014 Kennewick Man: The lodged in his hip, a series of never quite healed broken ribs, and Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton. Texas two small skull fractures. A&M University Press, College Station. He was a man of the North, or at least of the northern Pacific Preston, D. 2014 The 9,000-year-old man speaks. Smithsonian Coast, who was buried more than 200 miles from the ocean 45(5):52–63. along the Columbia River in a broad valley of shrubby steppe. It Walker, S. M., and D. W. Owsley 2012 Their Skeletons Speak: Ken- appears, then, he wasn’t near his home when he died. Neverthe- newick Man and the Paleoamerican World. Carolrhoda Books, less he was given an extended burial in a comfortable, if shal- Minneapolis. January n 2015 11

THE CLOVIS COMET New Developments in the Proxy Evidence, Part I

n this young century, few topics have generated as on with more important questions about the peopling of the much debate among First Americans researchers as the Americas. IYounger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (ydih)—better known as In an earlier article in this series (MT 29-3, “The Clovis the Clovis Comet theory. In 2007, physicist Richard Firestone Comet: The Cratering Evidence”), we examined three proposed and 26 colleagues in various disciplines proposed in the Pro- candidates for a Clovis comet crater in Canada, none of which ceedings of the National Academy of Sci- panned out. ydih proponents ences (PNAS) that a comet exploded in note that if a comet exploded the Earth’s atmosphere about 12,900 high in the atmosphere, as calendar years ago. In so doing, they claimed, it contributed to the collapse Complete carbon microspherule of the Clovis culture, the extinction of (left) and close-up of the internal

North American megafauna, and the H oesel structure of a broken carbon van Interval—a thousand- microspherule. (from van Hoesel year climatic reversal that occurred et al., PNAS 109:20, 7648–7653.) nnelies just as the Ice Age was ending. A The ydih has polarized the scientific community. Some they now believe, there would be no cratering. Their critics say major players immediately chose sides. Others waited for there’s no crater because there was no comet—indeed, that it enough solid evidence to make a decision one way or an- would violate the laws of physics for a large comet to explode other. Many are still waiting. Meanwhile, most of the lines of high in the atmosphere. evidence presented by Firestone and his colleagues have been The only ydih evidence remaining is proxy data—indirect criticized and dismissed by critics unable to verify evidence for evidence, most so tiny it’s invisible to the naked eye. In this them, though other indepen- series of three articles, we’ll take a look at dent researchers have con- the arguments for and against nine proxy firmed them. Accusations of markers found in locations throughout shoddy research have been North America. We’ll start by focusing on hurled by both sides. The three: Black Mat deposits; charcoal and pro-ydih camp insists that soot in Younger Dryas Boundary (ydb) dissenters haven’t followed and immediate post-ydb deposits; and their research methods prop- carbon microspherules. erly. The dissenters argue that some of those methods Black Mats have never been formally The Black Mats can be considered “a published or clearly defined. layer roughly marking the onset of the Many scientists who find yd in the sediment,” as Dutch Earth sci- the evidence troubling—or reject the theory outright— Ted Bunch pointing to a shocked piece of wish the whole mess would unch Coconino sandstone below the south rim of edB just go away so we can all get T Meteor Crater, 2009. 12 Volume 30 n Number 1

entist Annelies van Hoesel puts it. ydih proponents believe Charcoal and soot the Black Mats formed as a result of impact-related climate ydih advocates also argue that concentrations of charcoal, change and continent-wide wildfires ignited by the heat of grape-like clusters of aciniform soot, and other forms of carbon- the cometary air burst(s)—a claim their critics vigorously ized matter found in immediate post-ydb sediments are further reject. As geoarchaeologist Vance Holliday points out, “What evidence of widespread biomass burning at the ydb. But soot is called ‘Black Mats’ varies. Some are marsh deposits; some and charcoal in all their forms aren’t limited to ydb strata. are lake deposits; others are uplands soils; some are black, They occur in nearly all strata to some extent—because across some are gray, and some geological time, wildfires are com- are white!” Alternative ori- mon. At Lake Cuitzeo, Mexico,

gins have been proposed for a site ydih proponents have re- these organic-rich horizons, ➙ cently focused on, strata from a including water-transported deep core yielded several classes organic material, decayed of purported impact microproxies algae in shallow , of about the right age. The deposits organic material oxidized by of charcoal and soot, however, are groundwater, the remains of concentrated 5 cm above other wood fires, and the decom- microproxies. position of charred wood. It’s possible, of course, that car- bon particles falling onto a lake Stratigraphic profile from the surface would sink to the bottom Murray Springs site, showing the slower than heavier microprox-

classic Black Mat (arrow). unch ies would. Critics, however, have edB

T challenged the dating of ydb lay- Sediments referred to as Black Mats aren’t uncommon in the ers at various sites, and questioned whether stratigraphic lay- geological record; nor do they represent a single stratigraphic ers above and below them were also tested for their charcoal/ horizon. Various Black Mats range in age from 6000 to 40,000 soot concentrations. Some researchers who have collected rcybp. As Alexander Andronikov of the University of Arizona samples from the very same sites cited by ydih proponents as points out, “There are other layers similar to the Black Mats having abundant microproxies have found none at all (e.g., MT known throughout the Quaternary, but only those generated 25-2, “In the Crucible of Scientific Enquiry: The Clovis Comet around 12.9 ka are so widespread. . . . Their hemisphere-wide Revisited”). ydih advocates fire back that these critics either presence is one of the indications that the yd climate oscillation used the wrong sampling protocols or didn’t collect their sam- was a world-wide phenomenon.” Although other researchers ples from the same locations—or even the same sites. “One agree, Andronikov cautions, “Whether such a change was trig- cannot sample the assumed same stratum somewhere else, gered by an impact, by sheer terrestrial processes, or by the especially hundreds of meters away, with no reliable age de- combination of the terrestrial and extraterrestrial processes is termination or stratigraphic congruency,” states Ted Bunch a matter of a further and very thorough study.” of North Arizona State University. “Any stratigraphic profiler Andronikov equates the Black Mats with the Usselo Horizon knows that nearly any stratum is unhomo­geneous, horizon- (uh) of Western Europe—a buried soil horizon—noting that tally and vertically, with distance.” He cites as an example most Black Mat sequences contain a thin (2–5 cm) layer the controversial Arlington Canyon site in California, where likely corresponding to the Lower ydb. uh sequences are rep- critics failed to replicate the findings of ydih advocates. “The resented by dark charcoal-rich layers stratigraphic descrip- in wind-deposited sands. But as van tions and radiocar- bon ages presented Charcoal samples from Usselo Horizons in their papers,” he in Europe (from van Hoesel, Annelies et says of the critics, al., 2012. “Nanodiamonds and wildfire “conclusively dem-

evidence in the Usselo horizon postdate H oesel onstrate that their van the Allerød-Younger Dryas boundary.” samples, supposedly PNAS 109:20, 7648–7653.) taken from the identi- nnelies

A cal exposures, were Hoesel notes, “The Usselo Horizons generally started forming actually taken seven kilometers away from the stratigraphic during the Allerød period, prior to the yd onset. The Black section” studied by ydih proponents such as James Kennett Mats started forming near the onset of the Younger Dryas, per and Allen West. C. Vance Haynes. Although the uh soils also mark a boundary Even in cases where charcoal and soot peak at or just above between post-yd and earlier sediments, they’re not exactly the ydb, natural processes may have concentrated the particles contemporaneous with the Black Mats.” Her own findings don’t there. Lag can occur when erosion removes lighter particles support an ET impact. (such as silt) from the sediments, causing heavier material to January n 2015 13

collect on one surface. When that surface is buried, the concen- species of megafauna—flat-heated peccary and giant beaver— trated material can mimic a homogeneous stratum. In addition, went extinct after the event that deposited the charcoal. frost heaving, rodent burrowing, root growth, and contraction Then there are the deep cores from Lake Cuitzeo. In the and expansion of sediments can mix or concentrate materials ydb stratum, researchers found (relatively) copious carbon through upward and downward movement. Says van Hoesel, spherules associated with other microproxies, including nano- “Depending on the site, it’s diamonds and magnetic microspherules. possible that wildfire proxies There are none at all in the strata below have been redeposited into the ydb unit. younger deposits or mixed But critics have blasted the veracity of with either older or younger the Lake Cuitzeo cores, arguing that the sediments.” dating was poorly controlled. The pro- posed ydb section, which lies 2.65–2.8 m Great balls of carbon! below the surface, is bracketed by dated de- The origin of carbon micro- posits at 1.95 m (age 9900 rcybp) and 3.35 spherules is an especially m (18,800 rcybp). The six samples from contentious issue in the ydih the strata in between yielded radiocarbon debate. As the name sug- ages significantly older than the bracket- gests, these are microscopic ing dates, which suggests that the strata

balls of carbon whose surface were contaminated by old carbon. The patterns suggest, to some, ➙ researchers subsequently excluded the six that they were created in a dates from the radiocarbon analysis, and high-heat/fast-quenching the location of the ydb was extrapolated environment. Measuring 10– based on statistical regression. 700 microns in diameter, they The merit of carbon spherules as a ydih often exhibit roughened sur- proxy was also shaken several years ago faces and spongy interiors. when physicist Mark Boslough of Sandia

Sometimes nanodiamonds H oesel van are imbedded inside and on The Usselo Horizon soil (arrow) at the their surfaces. Katarzynka site near Torun, Poland. nnelies

ydih proponents postulate A that the spherules formed when native carbon, incinerated by National Laboratories isolated and had dated one carbon an air burst, reformed into these interesting little spherules. spherule from sediments collected from the Gainey site in Some critics dismiss the carbon spherules as insect feces Michigan. Tim Jull of the University of Arizona conducted and charred fungal spores, “though they cannot explain the the actual dating, using a grant from Vance Holliday. As it presence of nanodiamonds in them,” notes Dr. Bunch. An- happened, the spherule was essentially modern. Given the nelies van Hoesel, who reported on the absence of wildfire/ expense of the dating method, Boslough didn’t attempt an- nanodiamond evidence in uh soils in a 2012 PNAS article, other date. “I have always encouraged the ydih proponents concludes that whatever they to have their samples radio- are, they and associated glass- carbon dated,” he says. “I hope like carbon were likely created they use this as an opportu- in wildfires at much lower tem- nity to find out if any of their peratures than those cited for an samples are consistently from extraterrestrial — the ydb, and to publish the specifically, at temperatures results regardless of what the below 500° C. Conversely, pro- answer is. Firestone has done ydih teams have created carbon that, and found that the sample spherules in lab experiments at ages are all over the map. He temperatures exceeding 1,600° C that quite resemble the ydb Annelies van Hoesel (foreground) spherules. H oesel and Alexander Andronikov doing van Researchers have identified fieldwork at Lommel (Molse Nete these spherules at numerous site, Belgium). nnelies ydb sites, including Sheridan A in Ohio, where archaeologist Kenneth Tankersley iden- posted his results online, but as far as I know, this has never tified spherules in a charcoal layer dating from about 12,900 been published in a peer-reviewed journal.” calybp, along with other ydih microproxies such as magnetic According to Ted Bunch, Boslough used this one contami- grains, magnetic microspherules, and nanodiamonds. Two nated sample as an excuse to reject the entire ydih. “This is 14 Volume 30 n Number 1

where the word ‘disingenuous’ comes into play,” says Bunch. The ydih under fire “Boslough asked [Allen] West for a carbon spherule to look for The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis represents one of those nanodiamonds, but apparently, Boslough never bothered to do through-a-glass-darkly, if-only scenarios. The active of so. Instead, he knew about a young radiocarbon date for the site the Earth has so obscured terminal-Pleistocene events that it’s from Firestone’s earlier publication and had the spherule dated. almost impossible to discern most details. Maybe some large Like Firestone, he got a modern date because of contamina- cometary fragments exploded in the atmosphere and played tion, which is very common at havoc with the environment, or maybe archaeological sites. However, something completely different hap- Boslough used that one erro- pened. If only there were a smoking neous date to imply that ALL gun—a crater, for example. But there 403 dates for 28 sites on four isn’t; nor would there be, if the air burst continents are in error. That is occurred miles above the surface. simply an indefensible, if not All that the ydih proponents can an disingenuous, claim.” point to is impact proxies, which have increasingly come under fire from Mark Boslough with fragments other scientists who either can’t find recovered from the Chelyabinsk, them in the same deposits or dismiss Russia, meteor of February 2013. them as something else. Even experts Courtesy of the Pioneer in the same discipline can’t agree.

Productions television series arrott This jousting has persisted for more NOVA, “Meteor Strike” episode. than seven years now—and I’ll eat upertP

R my 2013 Paleoamerican Odyssey cap Boslough rebuts, “I’d already rejected the Firestone ver- if adherents and naysayers aren’t still thrusting and parrying sion of the ydih long before I had the sample dated. But I also seven years from now. think it’s important to know that I still But that’s how science don’t reject the ‘entire’ ydih. I said in a advances. If the debate 2012 radio debate with Kennett that I’m seems especially acrimo- fine with a small impact at the ydb and nious, that’s the risk we that the Israde impact scenario (but not take when highly regarded the postulated environmental effects) is experts with strong opin- possible. I published a letter in PNAS ions clash on the academic suggesting that there was indeed an field of battle. If such a impact near the ydb that explains the Pt spirited debate lasts long enough, there are sure to be casualties.

Alexander Andronikov working at a ov Tune in again for the Lutterzand outcrop in the Netherlands. next article in this series, A dark Usselo Horizon layer is visible in which we’ll take a look k ndroni ­between the Coversand I (lower deposit) A at three more categories and Coversand II (upper deposit). of microproxies: glass-like lexander

A carbon and glassy mate- [] anomaly in the [Greenland] ice—but again, without rial; magnetic grains; and magnetic microspherules. the environmental effects.” –Floyd Largent

How to contact the principals of this article: Ted Bunch Mark Boslough Geology Program Sandia National Laboratory School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability P. O. Box 5800 Northern Arizona University Albuquerque, NM 87185-0370 Flagstaff, AZ 86011 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]. Annelies van Hoesel Alexander V. Andronikov Department of Earth Sciences Department of Planetary Science Utrecht University Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD University of Arizona Utrecht, The Netherlands Tucson, AZ, 85721 e-mail: [email protected]. e-mail: [email protected]. January n 2015 15

CARIBBEAN SEA RIVER CHAGRES The Isthmus of Panama and I6 8 5 important archaeological, II4 N LAKE ­paleontological, and coring GATUN COSTA Canal Panama sites older than 7000 rcybp. RICA City 3 N I The level at -50 m is the 1 C Pearl ontin Penonomé 2I Islands ental D 1 ­approximate coastline during ivide 2N I 3N . N al the lgm. Arrows indicate sites 4 5

Santiago N et Major N6 occupied in the . highway 7 k e 1G N G2 Chitré oo C PANAMA BAY

PACIFIC OCEAN Azuero ichard

Coiba Peninsula COLOMBIA R Island from

◆ 14C-dated archaeological site ● Paleontological site 1 Casita de Piedra 1 Llano Grande 2 Los Santanas 2 La Trindaita 3 Corona 4 Carabali ■ Coring locality 5 Aguadulce Shelter 1 Laguna de la Yeguada 6 Vampiros 1 & 2 2 El Valle 7 La Mula West & Central 3 Monte Oscuro ForgottenForgotten 8 Lake Alajuela the early 1970s conducted investigations at Lake Alajuela and elsewhere; Michael Snarkis, who in the late 1970s identified the LandLand BridgeBridge Paleoamerican Turrialba quarry/workshop in eastern ; and Anthony Ranere, who in 1988 discovered La Mula- Sarigua, a Clovis-era quarry/workshop in central Panama. Even when other North American researchers began paying attention to their South American colleagues’ claims of great antiquity for some of their finds, the evidence from thecalb veryone in the first americans field knows the was mostly overlooked. Beringian thesis, which argues that first entered Lately, that situation has begun to change. As researchers EE the by following big-game herds across the take a greater interest in the southern continent (MT 25-4, Bering Land Bridge—that ultimate low-water crossing between “Paleo South America: Long time, no see”), they’re also taking Asia and that was exposed during the last Ice Age. Ac- a closer look at the calb, the most likely passageway for earli- cording to the theory, these Paleoamericans then either followed est human migration into South America. the Pacific coast south, or filtered down into the interior of North America through gaps between the continental ice sheets, The Land Bridge, then and now possibly after a period of sequestration in Alaska and western We know from early sites like Taima-Taima and Canada. Colonization proceeded apace from north to in South America that pre-Clovis humans must south, populating both continents in as little as a few mil- have passed through the calb on their way lennia. We haven’t quite agreed on when this took place, south. Unfortunately, we know almost nothing though the general consensus is that it occurred after the about these early immigrants. We’ve found only (lgm). If so, it didn’t take long trace evidence of their presence, in the form of for humans to find their way in. Evidence from sites like a few isolated surface finds. We can’t even tell Monte Verde in , Taima-Taima in Venezuela, and for sure whether they preferred the Pacific or Debra L. Friedkin in Texas places human entry into the Atlantic coast, came by way of boat, made their New World at least by 16,000 calybp. way south on foot—or all of the above. The American continents are themselves connected The biggest problem is that the calb as it by a land bridge, the Isthmus of Panama, which survives to this day. Indeed, many researchers specializing in This Fishtail point from the hill atop the Cerro El

the Isthmian region prefer the term “Central American legenheimer Sombrero site in Argentina is typical of Fishtail

F 0 3 Land Bridge,” or calb. First Americans researchers cm points found throughout Central and South America. ora mostly neglected this relatively narrow strip of terri- N tory for decades, despite surface finds of fluted points as early exists today is much narrower than it once was, with few sur- as the 1950s. Exceptions included the late Junius Bird, who in viving lowlands. Currently it includes all of Panama and Costa 16 Volume 30 n Number 1

Rica, as well as the Lake District of Nicaragua and the Atrato in a 2013 article in Quaternary International, point out that the Basin of northernmost Colombia. During the late Pleistocene, earliest surviving terrestrial sites in the calb—those of the however—when sea levels dropped as much as 130 m below the El Jobo/Monte Verde era—would most likely occur on or near modern average—large expanses of the sea floors of the Bay of modern Pacific coastlines that coincide with late-Pleistocene Panama, the Gulf of Nicoya, and the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pa- coastlines (these are indicated with arrows on the map.) The cific side would have been exposed on the surface. The Bay of Panama alone would have comprised a wide plain with a group of high hills in the center (today’s Pearl Islands). The exposed area of continental shelf to the north, on the Caribbean side of the calb, would have also been substantial. This larger land area was advantageous for the people who gradually filtered south- ward to colonize the new territory. But for those of us who want to learn more about them today, it’s a supreme frustration. It’s possible that substantial early populations were in place within a few centuries of the

initial arrival of humans from Asia, pos- . sibly even sooner, but that they remained al et e k

Excavation map and cross section of oo Los Vampiros-1 rockshelter, Panama. ichardC R coastal. If so, then most of the sites that might tell their story now southwest tip of the Azuero peninsula and far southeast Pan- lie under the sea. And if that’s true, then a full understanding of ama seem particularly good places to prospect for such sites. early colonization of the calb will have to wait until we can locate We know for certain that stable human populations were in and excavate inundated sites on the continental shelf. place by Clovis times—and that some, in fact, left behind Clovis Noted South American archaeologist Gustavo Politis be- and Clovis-like artifacts. “I favor the hypothesis that the first lieves this may be possible for some, but not all, submerged explorers on the land bridge were pre-Clovis, affiliated with sites. “In some areas like the Gulf of Mexico, sites have been Taima-Taima and Monte Verde, while the Clovis occupation already found in calm waters,” he notes. “But on the Pacific entered fully blown from further north,” says Richard Cooke of coast, I doubt it. The sea-level the Smithsonian Tropi- rise would have destroyed most cal Research Institute. of the coastal sites. I think the 0 5 That said, recent mito- proportion of sites still existing cm chondrial dna (mtdna) underwater is very low.” research by Ugo A. . Perego of the University artist

Paleoamerican stone tools , of Pavia, Italy, shows a from Panama, pre-7000 rcybp. clear genetic continuity aton A, Clovis preform, broken during between very ancient ­manufacture; B, medial section­ of A B C and modern Native a lenticular­ biface found on the sur- lejandraP American populations in . A .

face at Lake Alajuela, similar in style al the region—suggesting et

to El Jobo points. C–F, artifacts from e that the Clovis interlop- k

Los Vampiros-1: C, tip of a Fishtail oo ers failed to displace the point; D, fluted-point base; E, over- original population of shot flake; F,trimmed . the region. This might ichardC D E F R explain why even during Clarification of the issue awaits new archaeological technol- the Clovis era, there seemed to be multiple lithic ogy and techniques. in use on the calb. Based on recent research in and elsewhere, Politis The Pacific focus suggests the possibility of multiple pulses of immigration. “The Given the lack of hard evidence, it’s hard to say precisely when first pulse probably used some sort of watercraft,” he suggests. the first humans reached the calb. Researchers Richard “I imagine a greater rate of human expansion; if using the Cooke, Anthony Ranere, Georges Pearson, and Ruth Dickau, marine route, occupation would occur within a few centuries January n 2015 17

[of entering North America].” On the other hand, Dr. Cooke Upland pre-Clovis occupations are apparently nonexistent and Dr. Ranere argue, “Passage through the calb may not in the calb. The earliest Paleoamerican occupation in the have been all that fast . . . data would argue Panamanian uplands above 600 m above sea level (masl) against movement be- is Casita de Piedra rockshelter in ing rapid. Why should Chiriqui (~800 masl), where Dickau it [be]? Even though recovered bifacial thinning flakes the annual precipi- associated with two charcoal dates tation was certainly in the 10,230–10,710 calybp range. lower than today’s, However, forest-clearing activities and it was consider- . A B at La Yeguada (650 masl) began

ably cooler, tropical artist about 11,150 ± 160 years rcybp marine-coastal eco- ,

aton 0 5 systems are prolific, cm Artifacts recovered from the earliest and the environment occupation levels of Los Vampiros-1,

in present-day Pan- lejandraP C the best-dated pre-Clovis site in ama in this area is A . Panama. A, biface tip, possibly a al

benign.” et fragment; B, trimmed unifacial e Meanwhile, Politis k ; C, unifacial thumbnail suggests that “the oo scraper; D, trimmed , pos- second pulse of mi- sibly a denticulate tool; E, spurred ichardC gration might have R D E unifacial endscraper. occurred just before Clovis times, using a land route . . . filling the different land- (12,680–13,760 calybp), within the Clovis era. There must scapes and environments before moving south. I suspect it have been people there to clear the forests, but they left very would take much longer ter- little hard evidence behind. restrially, as groups developed Technologies used by early Panama- and split.” Politis believes the nians embody features of Paleoamerican Pacific coast offered the easiest traditions on both continents. This mix approach to Central and South may constitute an evolutionary bridge America, while the Atlantic between the two, or it may signify cultural coast was secondary at best. mixing caused by diffusion of technology, The aforementioned mtdna mostly from the north; there’s no way to

studies of modern native popu- nstitute be sure at this time. Perego’s genetic con- I lations in the calb and South tinuity research suggests that either the America have suggested the Pa- natives adopted the incoming Clovis tech- esearch cific coastal route as the most R nology as one of several in the region, or likely one. So as you can see, ev- else coexisted with Clovis groups arriving

erything’s still in question—and T ropical from the north. Interestingly, no one has we’re entering another exciting time when new and even novel Cooke in the field. mithsonian data are generating very inter- S esting discussions among Paleoamerican specialists. found megafaunal remains in clear association with any Paleo- american artifacts on the Isthmus Clovis and the vampires of Panama, though the existence However humans got to Panama, it’s clear from regional of these artifacts suggests to some assemblages that they were firmly entrenched that big-game hunting and process- by the Clovis era, which suggests their ancestral groups ing was taking place. As Cooke were there in pre-Clovis times. Unfortunately, nothing and Ranere note, “The Paleoindian we’ve found so far dates firmly to that period. Bird col- toolkit sensu stricto is certainly lected an anomalous biconvex tool from the exposed lake specialized for killing large mam- bed of Lake Alajuela (a.k.a. Lake Madden) in 1973 that he mals and working their carcasses, felt might be very early; in fact, it may be the midsection hides, ivory and bone.” Appropriate of an El Jobo point. In addition, a thick biface base that resembles the very early El Jobo/Monte Verde types was Politis in Brazil, 2010. collected near Lake La Yeguada. These artifacts suggest the presence of the pre-Clovis occupation that Perego’s mtdna species, especially mastodon and , were present studies imply, but fall short of providing archaeological proof. well into the terminal Pleistocene. 18 Volume 30 n Number 1

There are intriguing artifact assemblages in the calb— Cooke emphasizes that the Vampiros-1 Paleo assemblage including outre passé (overshot) flakes, fluted points, Fishtail contains very few bifacial tools. “Most are unifacial—not only points, thumbnail scrapers, spurred endscrapers and gravers, typical Clovis ones, such as spurred endscrapers, but also much and possibly scraper-planes—that appear to be roughly coeval cruder ones, including many flakes used to cut and scrape—as with Clovis, given the morphological and technological simi- well as a large scraper-plane, which, if found unassociated, larities. Artifacts found elsewhere are clearly Clovis or Clovis- could well have been classified as pre-Clovis.” According to related, including those at the Finca Guardiria workshop in Cooke, the idea that unifacial technology represents very early Costa Rica, where 18 fluted points and many keeled scrapers occupations, as opposed to bifacial technologies representing (suggesting woodworking activity) have been recovered. At 10 more recent cultures, still pervades the thinking of some Cen- hectares, Finca Guardiria is the largest Paleoamerican site in tral America specialists. Central America. It now lies at an altitude of 700 masl in a humid The Clovis-style artifacts may signify a diffusion of the tech- premontane forest. Atlantic Coast localities in Costa Rica, like nology southward through existing cultures, though Cooke et Birlen, have also produced a few fluted points, and a site called al. advocate the rapid movement of early Paleo groups from Los Camachos has yielded what appears to be a reworked North America through Central America and into northern Fishtail point. Other sites have produced assemblages with no Venezuela around 13,000 calybp. How the Clovis and El Jobo obvious Clovis attributes, which more closely resemble El Jobo cultural materials might have been related, if they were at all, assemblages. remains uncertain. They almost certainly weren’t in use at the None of these localities offers a datable stratigraphic con- same time. Politis warns, however, that the age of the El Jobo text—except one. Cooke et al. emphasize in their recent QI Complex remains uncertain. “We need to redate classic El Jobo article that “In only one case . . . have [unequivocal] Paleoin- sites to contemporary standards to be sure about the chronol- dian stone tools been found in primary buried deposits—at the ogy,” he notes. Vampiros-1 site.” Fishtail-point sites are apparently a bit younger than Clovis, Vampiros-1 is a stratified multi-component rockshelter on but by no more than 200–300 years. Did they develop from the slopes of a small hill, currently located two miles from the Clovis technology as it moved south? It’s hard to say. Both present-day coast of Parita Bay. Throughout the , it represent the outcome of the same technological revolution was used as a fishing camp and processing locality; but during that occurred about 11,000–11,500 rcybp throughout the the late Pleistocene, when sea levels were 50 m below current Americas. levels, it lay 30–60 km from the shore. It wasn’t used as a fish- processing camp during this time period; it was much too far Final thoughts from the coast for marine resources to be easily accessible. Politis cautions that “sometimes, the data in [Central and] Though the nature and the formation processes of the site South America are not properly represented in North American present significant challenges to the archaeologist, a careful debates. I’m not saying the data are ignored, just not properly examination of the stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates makes it represented. In the Southern Cone [the southernmost third clear that Paleoamericans occupied the site sporadically start- of South America], we have evidence of people living there by ing about 11,050–10,300 rcybp. These occupants were most 12,000–12,500 rcybp (about 14,000–14,500 calybp). They likely a Clovis-related group. The lithic assemblage, although represent the final part of this long immigration process, which relatively small, includes fluted points in association with outre must have started a few thousand years before Clovis. I think passé flakes, another common Clovis marker. Excavators also recovered a fluted Fishtail point. How to contact the principals of this article: Gustavo G. Politis About the author Floyd B. Largent, Jr. obtained his mas- INCUAPA-CONICET ter’s degree in anthropology from Texas A&M University Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UNICEN in 1991, studying under CSFA Del Valle 5737, 7400 Olavarría, Argentina ­Director Mike Waters. After e-mail: [email protected] working as a salvage archae- ologist for nine years, he opened Richard Cooke a small bookstore, where he Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute honed his writing skills between Apdo. 0843-03092 customers. He later segued into Ancón, Panama full-time freelance writing. e-mail: [email protected] Though he misses fieldwork, Anthony J. Ranere, Professor Emeritus he’s kept his hand in by writ- Temple University ing for Mammoth Trumpet since Department of Anthropology 2002, contributing almost 60 Gladfelter Hall, Second Floor articles. He’s also been published in Current Research in the 1115 West Berks Street Pleistocene, Plains Anthropologist, La Tierra, and the Journal Philadelphia, PA 19122 of Paleopathology. e-mail: [email protected] January n 2015 19

early Americans were coming from Asia after the lgm at about from both North and South America—and the land bridge that 16,000–17,000 rcybp via a coastal route, and they came south connects them. Fortunately, dedicated researchers like Politis, very quickly. Any post-glacial, pre-Clovis site in North America Cooke, Ranere, Dickau, James Steele, Georges Pearson, Re- is a good site to test this idea.” nato Messina, and others are in the process of doing just that, The sites are there: We see them at Swan Point in Alaska; following in the footsteps of Bird, Snarkis, Ruth Gruhn, and Manis in Washington State; the Hebior, Shaefer, and Mud Alan Bryan. Lake sites in Wisconsin; Friedkin site in Texas; Coats-Hines in Once again, it looks like we’re in for some interesting Tennessee; in Pennsylvania; Paisley changes in the field of Paleoamerican studies. Strap yourself in Oregon; and so many others. We just haven’t yet man- in and hold onto your hat—it’s sure to be an exciting ride! aged to fit them into a context that fully integrates the data –Floyd Largent

dung,” beginning as much as 2,500 years before Clovis in The Clovis Diet: Mostly Mammoths? eastern North America. Presumably a decline in the fungus was a result of a decline in the abundance of megafaunal dung, continued from page 3 which in turn was due to diminishing numbers of megafauna. vis hunters would have avoided mammoths if they were rare. In- Since this Sporormiella decline preceded “changes in fire re- stead, it “predicts that regardless of the rarity of a high-ranked gime or climate,” Haynes and Hutson agree with the idea that resource, it will be pursued when encountered.” In other words, the extrapolated decline in megafaunal numbers was a result if Clovis hunters really were focused on hunting mammoths of pre-Clovis human hunting. Grayson, however, argues that and , whether it was because of the amount of meat this is circular reasoning: “One assumes that people drove they could get from a kill or because of the social status they the extinctions, and that, therefore, declining abundances of would accrue as the mightiest of hunters, they would have herbivores indicates the presence of such people.” It is pos- hunted them whenever they came across one. Since optimiza- sible that megafaunal declines had begun long before people tion theories don’t preclude the well-documented mammoth arrived in the region and that whatever hunting took place hunting, it may therefore be premature to reject their utility for with the arrival of Clovis-era people only hastened the already contributing to our understanding of Clovis diets. inevitable extinctions. On the other hand, Haynes and Hutson acknowledge that there are numerous examples of mastodon Proto-Clovis diets and mammoth remains that post-date the decline in Sporormi- Haynes and Hutson also review the evidence for a pre-Clovis ella spores, so any pre-Clovis hunting must have “affected or proto-Clovis occupation and conclude that “human choices only some of the region’s proboscideans.” to hunt and process the very largest land mam- A varied diet with a predilection mals began centuries for large mammals before the Clovis era So, were Clovis-era big-game hunters and continued through specialists who ate the mammoths it, a patterned foraging choice with a long his- Haynes studies herds of African elephants tory.” The evidence they and their bone scatters to gain insight into offer in support of this proboscidean behavior and, by extension, conclusion includes the Clovis kill sites. Because elephants need an in abundant water supply, waterholes ­today Washington (MT 27- and 13,000 years ago are places where 4, “Reconsidering the hunters expect to find proboscidean prey. nes

Manis Mastodon”), the y Haynes observed this herd in Hwange ha

Hebior and Shaefer mam- y National Park, Zimbabwe, 2002–2010.

moths in Wisconsin (MT gar 28-2, “The Manis Mastodon in Context: A Glimpse into Pre- and other species of megafauna to extinction? Haynes and Clovis North America”), and the Firelands Ground Sloth in Hutson think the labels “specialist” and “generalist” are Ohio (MT 28-1, “Pre-Clovis Butchered Ground Sloth in Ohio”. misleading, in part because there are no widely agreed-upon Each of these sites has megafaunal bones associated with definitions of the terms. More importantly, the distinction non-Clovis stone or bone tools or, in the case of the Firelands suggests a dichotomy in hunter-gatherer diets that doesn’t Ground Sloth, bones bearing stone-tool cutmarks. exist: “Rarely or never are hunter-gatherer groups exclusively In addition to this direct evidence, Haynes and Hutson also carnivorous or vegetarian.” point to the indirect evidence of the decline in the abundance Haynes and Hutson acknowledge that “Late Glacial hu- of spores of Sporormiella, “a fungus that thrives in mega­faunal man groups left incomplete or sketchy evidence about their 20 Volume 30 n Number 1

dietary choices,” but they argue that the archaeological evidence available to us Volume 1, Issue 1 ■ January, 2015 can provide valid and testable insights approx. 110 pp. into those choices. They conclude that “proto-Clovis and Clovis-era populations had omnivorous diets”; that is, “they ate TABLE OF CONTENTS whatever was available if those foods Introducing PaleoAmerica, Ted Goebel. Research Briefs were acceptable or preferred.” The “if” Kennewick Man Two Decades Later, Karl Hutterer. Bluefish Cave II (Yukon Territory): Taphonomic Study in that last sentence is important. of a Bone Assemblage, Lauriane Bourgeon (1668 words; Diets certainly varied from region to Review Article 26 references; no figures/tables). region as well as from season to season Pleistocene Human Settlement in the Southeastern Haskett Spear Weaponry and Protein Residue Evidence United States: Current Evidence and Future Directions, of Proboscidean Hunting in the Great Salt Lake Desert, and even from band to band, but Haynes David Anderson, Ashley Smallwood, and Shane Miller Utah, Daron Duke (1450 words; 18 references; 4 figures). (11,000 words; 440 references; 6 figures/tables). and Hutson assert that there was a pan- Three Late Paleocoastal Shell on Santa Cruz continental preference for hunting the Research Reports Island, California, Jon M. Erlandson, Kristina Gill, Torben Rick, and Leslie Reeder-Myers (1288 words; 8 references; largest mammals available. Insofar as they and Prehistoric Settlement in Central 3 figs/tables). believe that this preference is at odds with and Northeast Brazil: Definition and Spatial Distribution of the Itaparica Technocomplex, Antoine Lourdeau (6934 The Bear Creek Site (45KI839), a Late Pleistocene- the assumptions of Optimization Theory, words; 82 references; 8 figures). Holocene Transitional Occupation in the Puget Sound they suggest that “important sociological Human Origins in the New World: A Transitory Object in Lowland, King County, Washington, Robert Kopperl, and cultural sense can be made” of the the Emergence of (1875–1912), Amanda Taylor, Christian Miss, Ken Ames, and Charles Hodges (993 words; 9 references; 4 figures/tables). seeming contradiction implied by the ap- Irina Podgorny (6150 words; 82 references; 6 figures/ tables). The First Record of the Jumping Mouse Zapus from the parent dietary variability on the regional A Fresh Look at the Age and Cultural Affiliation of the Southern High Plains, John Moretti and Eileen Johnson scale, but the “opposite of variability” Sheaman Site, Fred Sellet (3700 words; 20 references; 3 (1054 words; 12 references; 2 figures). on the continental, indeed, hemispheric figures/tables). Beyond Obsidian: Documenting the Conveyance scale. They suggest that “persistent tra- The Paleoamerican Occupation of the Plains of Uruguay: of Fine-Grained Volcanics and in the North Technology, Adaptations, and Mobility, Raphael Suárez American , Khori Newlander (1048 words; 19 ditions and norms” may have promoted (7432 words; 85 references; 18 figures tables). references; 2 figures). big-game hunting throughout the proto- The journal Paleoamerica is published quarterly by CSFA and Maney Publishing in online and print editions. To subscribe, use the Clovis and Clovis eras. Membership/Subscription form inside the front cover. To submit a manuscript, contact editor Ted Goebel at [email protected] Did that pan-continental focus on big- game hunting result in the extinction of the mammoths and an important contribution to the extinction of the Pleistocene other megafauna? It’s hard to see how it couldn’t have had an megafauna is not likely to be resolved anytime soon. Hutson affect, but Grayson counters that the apparent pan-continen- predicts that “new sites, excavated using modern methods, will tal preference for mammoth meat may be an illusion. Accord- also help to clarify some of the subsistence patterns we see on ing to Grayson, the evidence for Clovis and proto-Clovis diets a regional and continental scale.” isn’t just incomplete or sketchy, it’s fundamentally biased: –Brad Lepper “Almost all of these sites have been found because of the associated large mammals; the archaeological components were typically discovered later. Lehner is a classic example. If How to contact the principal of this article: you find the artifacts by first finding the elephants, then obvi- Gary Haynes ously there will be a positive correlation between the two. As Department of Anthropology I have pointed in a number of places, it is unlikely that any University of Nevada–Reno rancher would have contacted (who discovered Reno, NV 89557 the Lehner site) because he had found bunny bones eroding e-mail: [email protected] out of a stream bank.” And while Haynes and Hutson are cor- rect to note that this bias in our data cannot prove that Clovis hunters “chose small game more often that we see in the ar- Suggested Readings Grayson, D. K 2007 Deciphering North American Pleistocene ex- chaeological record” it does make it difficult if not impossible tinctions. Journal of Archaeological Research 63:185–213. to reliably assess the relative importance of large versus small game in Clovis and proto-Clovis diets. Haynes, G. 1991 Mammoths, Mastodonts, and Elephants: Biology, Behavior, and the Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press, Maybe the contradiction between dietary variability on Cambridge. the regional scale versus the “opposite of variability” on the ———— 2002 The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis continental scale is more apparent than real. Maybe the vari- Era. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ability we see on the regional scale is an accurate reflection Haynes, G., and J. M. Hutson 2014 Clovis-era subsistence: Re- of what we would see on the broader continental scale if our gional variability, continental patterning. In Paleoamerican Odys- data weren’t biased. sey, edited by K. E. Graf, C. V. Ketron, & M. R. Waters, pp. 293–309. Future discoveries of Clovis and proto-Clovis sites will Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas. further our understanding of dietary variability through time Pevny, C. 2011 What it means to be Clovis. Part I: Simply Clovis. and across space, but the question of whether people made Mammoth Trumpet 26(1):15-19.