004 Clovis Spear Point

Up to 14,000 years old, this spear tip is of a distinctive type known as a Clovis point. Clovis points are named after the site in New Mexico where numerous examples have been found. They have been discovered right across what is now the USA, and they are the best known archaeological evidence we have for the early human settlement of the region.

The Clovis point is a weapon tip made by chipping small flakes off both sides of a stone blade. After roughing out the basic shape the maker thins the point by removing a long, narrow flake from the base up the long axis on each face. As you can see on your screen now, this created the grooves referred to as ‘flutes’ characteristic of Clovis points. They allow the point to be securely fixed into the spear shaft.

The people who made Clovis points probably crossed over to North America from Northern Asia, when the continents were joined by a land bridge during the last Ice Age. They then spread out across America, using these spears in hunting. Clovis points are sometimes found with the bones of mammoths and other animals, such as mastodons and giant bison. All these animals are now extinct. Although climate change was already leading to the gradual death of these species, it is probable that human hunters speeded up their disappearance.