1. Pre-Columbian Archaeology of North America Week 4: The Peopling of the New World: Classic Interpretations: Clovis, Folsom, Pleistocene extinctions

2. Pre-1930s Explanations  No evidence for pre-Holocene occupation  Hrdlička Hrdlička  Folsom Folsom  Clovis Clovis

3. Environment of Pleistocene America  Two major glacier groupings:  Greenland Glacier  Cordillerian Glacier  Extended quite far south (c. 40° N)  Great Lakes completely ice-covered  Only exist in present form for less than 8,000 years

4. Global ice coverage reconstruction: c. 18,000 years ago

5. Global ice coverage reconstruction: c. 12,000 years ago

6. Flora  Predominance of spruce [smrk]  Poplar [topol] also widespread  Steppe = short-grass prairie

7. Fauna  Megafauna  During the Pleistocene, large fauna are found throughout the world, with species being much larger than their modern descendants  Giant kangaroos in Australia  Wooly rhinoceros in Europe

8. Major herbivore species  Mammoths – 3 main species Mammoths  Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)  Jefferson’s mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersoni)  Wooly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)  American Mastodon (Mammut americanum) American Mastodon American Mastodon  Bison Bison  Horse Horse  Ground sloths Ground sloths Ground sloths

9. Mammoths  Jefferson’s and Columbian mammoths are descendants of M. meridionialis Jefferson’s and Columbian mammoths Jefferson’s and Columbian mammoths  Arrived from Asia c. 1.8 mya  Wooly mammoths arrived less than 500 kya  Adults  3-4 m at shoulder  5500-7300 kg  Flat, plate-like teeth  Grazers  Long, curving tusks  Longest measures 4.9 m  Longest of any member of the elephant family  Pygmy mammoths (Mammuthus exilis)  Found on Channel Islands off southern coast of California  Likely evolved from Columbian mammoth c. 20 kya  1.2-2.4 m at shoulder

10. Columbian (left) and Jefferson’s (right) Mammoths

11. American Mastodon American Mastodon  Mammut americanum  Existed in N. America from 3.75 mya to 10 kya  Adults:  2-3 m at shoulder  3500-5400 kg  Cone-like teeth  Browsers

12. Bison  Bison antiquus  15-20% larger than the modern American bison/buffalo (Bison bison)  220 cm at top of hump, 1300 kg  Considered ancestral  Similar behavior patter/range as modern bison

13. Horse  All species of horse evolved in the Americas and spread across the Bering land bridge to the rest of the world  Western Horse (Equus occidentalis)  Primary Pleistocene species in N. America  Superficial resemblance to modern Zebras

14. Ground Sloths Ground Sloths  Four species  Found throughout North and South America  Much larger than modern relatives (2 and 3 toed sloths)  2.5-3 to 6 m in length  Up to 4000 kg  Browser-used hook-like claws to pull down branches, etc.  Pictured is Harlan’s Ground Sloth (Paramylodon harlani)

15. Major carnivore species  Saber-toothed cat Saber-toothed cat Saber-toothed cat  American lion American lion American lion  Dire wolf Dire wolf Dire wolf  Short-faced bear Short-faced bear Short-faced bear

16. Saber-toothed Cat Saber-toothed Cat  Smilodon fatalis  Mistakenly referred to as a “saber-toothed tiger”  Canines up to 18 cm long  About the size of a modern lion  More massive/ muscular with only a short tail  Ambush hunter

17. American Lion American Lion  Panthera atrox  Largest member of the cat family in N. America (largest cat species ever)  Weighed up to 400 kg  modern lions max: 150 kg

18. Dire Wolf Dire Wolf  Canis dirus  Closely related to the modern timber/gray wolf (Canis lupus)  1.5 m long, 50 kg  Major differences:  Shorter legs  Much larger teeth  May have had adaptation similar to modern hyenas  Bone a major element of the diet

19. Short-faced Bear Short-faced Bear  Arctodus simus  Largest carnivore in the Americas  1.5 m at the shoulder  Stood over 3.3 m  Weighed up to 800 kg  The short-faced bear's size in comparison to the modern day grizzly (front) and polar bear (middle)  Most probably omnivorous

20. Bering Land Bridge  Created during glacial periods  Declining sea levels as water is locked up in continental glaciers  a. 60-50,000 years ago (Early Wisconsin advance)  b. 44-41,000 years ago (First Mid-Wisconsin advance)  c. 32-29,000 years ago (Second Mid-Wisconsin advance)  d. 23-13,000 years ago (Late Wisconsin advance)  e. 11-10,000 years ago (Valderan advance)  f. 8-7,000 years ago (Cochrane advance)  Sea level decline by 100 m  1600 km wide  Vegetation:  Grassy tundra  Polar desert  Movement of animals and people  Ice-free corridor between two glacial masses  When?  Presumed to have existed no earlier than 13 kya

21. Migration Routes

22. Paleo-Indian Chronology  Clovis  12 to 11 kya  Folsom  11 to 10 kya  Late Paleo-Indian/Plano Cultures  10 to 8.5 kya  All are characterized by relatively large (50-80 mm) points

23. Clovis Culture  Defined on the basis of the Clovis point Clovis pointClovis point  Large, bifacially lanceolate, flaked point  Characteristic flute on base  4-13 cm in length  Found across North and Central America  All environmental zones All environmental zones All environmental zones  Toolkit  stone tools: knives, prismatic blades, bifacial preforms  Bone/ivory rods (22 to 28 cm in length, 2 to 3 cm in width) Bone/ivory rods Bone/ivory rods  Function unknown (foreshafts, runners, ceremonial function)  Atlatl Atlatl  Migratory big-game hunters  Related to Eurasian big game hunting tradition (?)  Most sites were interpreted as killing sites/butchering stations  Bias  Residential features rare at these sites  Known habitation sites are generally interpreted as short-term, open-air camp sites

26. Bone/Ivory Tools

27. Atlatl  From the Nahuatl (Aztec) word for “spear thrower”  Made from bone, ivory or wood  Served to increase force, accuracy and distance of thrown spear

28. Folsom Culture  Defined on the basis of the Folsom point Folsom pointFolsom point  Bifacially flaked point  Smaller and thinner than Clovis points  Deeper flute  More usually associated with the bones of bison  Shift from broad spectrum big-game hunting to focus on bison  Olsen-Chubbuck site  More restricted to plains/prairie regions  May have had larger communities, engaged in larger communal hunting  Camp sites known with up to ten tent rings represented  More intensive occupation More intensive occupation More intensive occupation

29. Folsom Points

30. Paleo-Indian Occupation in the Rio Grande Valley

31. Late Paleo-Indian Period  Generally referred to as Plano Cultures  First recognized on the Great Plains  Wider range of point styles Wider range of point styles Wider range of point styles  Agate, Basin, Hell Gap, Alberta, Scottsbluff/Eden.  Shift in hafting technology  Both lanceolate (eastern N. A.) and stemmed points (western N.A.)  A hunter's tool kit (mostly points, knives, scrapers).  Nomadic  First evidence of regular seasonal rounds  Communal hunting  Regular use of “bison jumps”  Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump  Used for at least 6000 years  Southern Alberta (Canada)  UNESCO World Heritage Site

32. Comparison of Paleo- Indian Points

33. Environmental Changes  The period beginning about 10 kya is marked by drastic environmental changes in North America  This resulted in a number of changes affecting the human and animal populations  Rising sea levels  Submerged coastal plains  Opening up of northern areas of the continent to habitation  Changes in rainfall and other climactic patterns  Leads to the extinction of most of the megafauna in the Americas  Resulting shift in hunting patterns, shifting to smaller game  How much of a shift is unclear because earlier archaeological research often ignored evidence of smaller mammals in favor of a focus on megafauna.

34. Megafaunal Extinction  135 species, including two-thirds of big mammals (over 45 kg) went extinct within a very short period (400 years?)  Environmental Change  Warming of the environment  Shifting patterns of rainfall  Melting of glaciers  Resulted in change in ecosystems ecosystems  Human hunting  First proposed by Paul S. Martin in 1973  “The Discovery of America” Science 179  A small group of hunters from Asia entered North America and having no competition rapidly expanded killing off the large megafauna which were not able to withstand this new hunting pressure. small group of hunters small group of hunters  Slow rates of reproduction  Question not only for the Americas  Australasia, South America, Europe  Humans had already been in these locations for tens of thousands of years, if not more

36. Model of extinctions