CLOVIS CULTURE: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, RELIGION, ECONOMY - HISTORY - 2025

The c ulture clovis, also called flat culture, was considered for many years as the first established in the Americas. According to the dominant theory in the middle of the 20th century, those first American settlers would have arrived on the continent from Asia, crossing the Bering Strait.

Although at present this hypothesis has lost force when the remains of previous settlements are found, the Clovis culture remains one of the most important when it comes to explaining the beginnings of human populations in America.

Source: Tim Evanson, undefined

The sites found show that the Clovis were great hunters of the so-called mega-fauna, especially mammoths. This is related to one of their hallmarks: clovis tips. Thanks to them, the hunting of these animals was more efficient.

From what is known up to now, the Clovis formed small groups, which moved in search of better hunting grounds, always in areas with enough water to survive. Some remains have been found that give clues about how they lived, in addition to some that explain their way of burial.

Origin

The Clovis culture has been radiocarbon-dated to a period that spans between 10,600 BC and 11,250 BC. According to these dates, the Clovis lived in the last years of the last Ice Age, the Würm glaciation.

During a good part of the 20th century, this calculation of antiquity led it to be considered the first population settled on the American continent. More recent discoveries have changed that opinion.

Arrival from Asia

The hypotheses about his arrival in America have been changing over time. Even today, there is no absolute consensus on this issue. In the middle of the last century, the most established hypothesis was the so-called “clovis consensus”. This served as the basis for the theory of the late settlement of the American continent.

The "clovis consensus" had as fundamental proof that it had not found pre-that culture remains anywhere else on the continent, something that, as noted, has changed in recent years. Thus, at the end of the 20th century, researchers found evidence of the settlements of older cultures.

The classical theory held that the Clovis reached the American continent by crossing the Beringia Bridge, over the Bering Strait. Thus, they would have left Siberia and reached Alaska about 13,000 years ago.

After this, according to this theory, they would have descended south through the east of the Rocky Mountains, taking advantage of the disappearance of the ice.

Discovery and origin of the name

The first remains of this culture were found near the town of Clovis, New Mexico, which ended up giving it its name. It was Roger Whiteman, in 1929, who discovered the first pieces made by the members of that town.

Three years later, a team from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the finding. The conclusion was that it belonged to an indigenous settlement and dated it to the Pleistocene.

However, it took until 1949, when it was discovered how to date remains using carbon 14, to adjust the dates of the Clovis settlements. The result obtained ranged from 11,500 to 10,900 BC. C. The second analysis varied the dates a little, leaving them in a period between 11,250 and 10,600 BC. C..

The settlements of the Clovis culture are in a very wide area. Thus, they have been discovered in the United States (from Montana to Arizona and Florida), but also in parts of Mexico and even further south, such as Venezuela.

Clovis culture and preclovis

The first discovery that challenged the belief that the Clovis were the first American people occurred in Sandia, near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

However, after analyzing the remains found, it was concluded that the so-called Sandia culture was contemporary with the Clovis and not earlier.

Other finds, such as those of Monte Verde (Chile), Topper (California), Piedra Museo (Argentina) or that of “El fin del Mundo” (Sonora), ended up convincing specialists that there were cultures prior to the Clovis.

Those discoveries gave rise to the theory of the early settlement of America, or preclovis. According to the analyzes, the first settlers of the continent would have arrived between 25,000 and 50,000 years before the present, long before the Clovis.

Disappearance

If the emergence of the Clovis culture has been controversial, the same has happened with its disappearance. There have been several hypotheses that have tried to explain the, according to some specialists, the sudden disappearance of this town.

The most common is the one that indicates the Clovis were affected by the shortage of large animals in the areas they inhabited. Some authors blame them for having hunted this mega-fauna en masse, although this is contested by those who affirm that it is impossible for them to hunt on that scale.

Whatever the cause, the disappearance of their prey caused the Clovis to emigrate, decreasing their population and mixing with other cultures until they disappeared.

Another hypothesis blames the cooling experienced by North America, which lasted about 1500 years. Living conditions hardened, animals died or moved to other latitudes, causing the disappearance of the Clovis.

Finally, for years it has been speculated with the possibility of a meteorite impact that would have caused the extinction of this town. However, no evidence has been found to support this.

General characteristics

Everything that is known about the Clovis culture comes from the sites found to date. This makes some of the conclusions tentative, based on speculations made by paleoanthropologists.

The most important characteristic of this town was the way in which they made the tips of their weapons. In fact, they have been given their name: clovis tips. It is about creations that show great skill, reaching a great degree of perfection and beauty.

Lithic industry

According to the findings, the Clovis perfected their stone tools to help them hunt better. On their journey south, they encountered large animals, which had never had predators before. In order to capture them, they had to invent a whole hunting technology.

Apart from the clovis points, other stone devices such as bifaces, some in the shape of a crescent and other types of leaves, have been found in the deposits.

In addition, other tools made with bone have also appeared (awl, straighteners…). These have been linked by researchers to similar objects found in Europe and Asia.

Clovis Point

As I pointed out previously, the most characteristic of the Clovis are their tips. Despite the fact that there are some regional differences, they all coincide in the perfection of its preparation.

The materials used are varied, from flint to obsidian. It is a sheet carved by pressure and has a groove up to the middle, approximately, of the piece. According to the studies carried out, this groove was used to fix the point to the end of the spear or arrow.

Art

Unfortunately, there is not much data on the art of the Clovis, if they did. The closest find to that concept was a kind of beaded ornament. In particular, the most interesting one was found at Blackwater and was composed of a rather rough cylindrical bone.

Another was found in Hiscock (New York) and had been made of sandstone. In general, all the beads that have been recovered were made with one of these two materials. The laces are supposed to be made of animal skin or vegetable fiber.

Big game hunters

The Clovis have been described as great hunters. Its most impressive prey were mammoths, since numerous remains of these animals have been found in the sites.

In fact, some authors affirm that they were the cause of the extinction of the mega-fauna of the areas they inhabited. However, it is a controversial theory and does not have scientific consensus.

Regional adaptation to the environment

As in other aspects related to this town, the experts disagree on their mode of adaptation to the environment. One of the hypotheses is that they adapted regionally, to the areas to which they arrived. This means that his hunting equipment and his behavior varied to the conditions of each area.

This theory is opposed by the one that maintains that the adaptation was global throughout the continent, without great differences in its general behavior.

Expansion

Over time, clovis deposits have been found in several American countries. This suggests that migrations took place further south than initially thought.

Some authors point out that this expansion was carried out quickly, maintaining a uniform culture. For these experts, the Clovis were the first clearly American culture, although others maintain that other peoples already existed on the continent.

Religion

There is not much evidence that allows us to know in depth the beliefs of the Clovis. It is known that, like the rest of the Paleoindians, they had shamans and that they performed funeral rites.

It is precisely in this last aspect that the most discoveries have been made. Thus, in southern Ontario evidence was found that could demonstrate cremation ceremonies. On the other hand, the remains of two burned teenagers were also found along with some objects in Montana.

The most characteristic thing is the use of ocher red paint in those places, something that was also frequent in Europe and Asia.

On the other hand, the shamans had the function of curing diseases and getting the spirits to favor hunting.

Social organization

The Clovis never formed too large groups, as this could lead to problems with provisioning. However, they could not be very small either, something that would harm the hunting of large animals.

The most common groups were made up of hunter-gatherer families, between 25 and 100 people in total. Each family should have at least three children, according to researchers who have analyzed the remains found.

Although there were settlements with a long duration, the Clovis were nomadic and moved from one area to another in search of food. Sometimes, the scarcity of resources caused the groups to split, although the opposite process could also occur and, thus, avoid excessive inbreeding.

Regarding its organization, it seems that it was an egalitarian culture, without established hierarchies.

Settlements

The seasonal settlements of the Clovis were based on two premises: hunting and water. Thus, almost all those found are near a source of water, essential for life. Similarly, in all of them there are many animal bones, which indicates that they were in abundance.

Dogs

According to some experts, the Clovis were already traveling accompanied by trained dogs. The most common theory is that they were used as a hunting aid, in addition to providing protection.

Economy

The modern concept of economics is something that cannot be applied to the Clovis. However, some of your activities may come close. A good example is the discovery in Williamson of raw materials from outside the area, which suggests that there was an exchange of products between the different groups.

Hunters

As already pointed out, one of the most practiced activities by the Clovis was hunting. The species they captured ranged from mammoths to bison to other large animals.

Most likely, everything captured was used for the maintenance of each group, both for food and to provide bones to make tools.

Fishing

Although their ability to hunt has always been highlighted, new discoveries have shown that, at times, they also inhabited the coasts. And, to survive, they took advantage of fishing resources.

Evidence of cormorants, finfish and other marine mammals has been found in some islands near the Californian coast. The tools that have appeared seem designed to, according to experts, "hunt on water". These are very sophisticated gadgets, showing great technical skill.

Architecture

Being a nomadic people it is difficult to speak of an architecture itself. Yes, on the other hand, you can describe the shelters they built in the temporary settlements they occupied.

The camps were not very large, enough to house small groups. The "hearths" used to occupy about 3 meters in diameter and shallow pits filled with charcoal have been found. As for the materials used, it is most likely that they were rocks from the area or mud.

References

1. The universal. The First American Invention: a tougher arrowhead. Obtained from eluniversal.com.mx
2. Just science. The Clovis culture was not the first to populate North America. Obtained from solociencia.com
3. Fernández Gómez, Andrés A. The first humans in America. Recovered from raco.cat
4. Crystalinks. Clovis People. Retrieved from crystalinks.com
5. Mann, Charles C. The Clovis Point and the Discovery of America's First Culture. Retrieved from smithsonianmag.com
6. Lovgren, Stefan. Clovis People Not First Americans, Study Shows. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com
7. Brian Schwimmer, Virginia Petch, Linda Larcombe. Clovis Traditions. Retrieved from umanitoba.ca