CLOVIS HUNTING STRATEGIES, OR HOW TO MAKE OUT ON PLENTIFUL RESOURCES

Recently it has become vogue to view the Clovis culture as a general foraging culture as opposed to the specialized hunting culture that has been the cornerstone of thinking about the Clovis culture for the past 65 years. Todd Surovell and Nicole Waguespack look at the archaeological evidence and ethnographic evidence to see whether the Clovis as general foragers is correct or not. They looked at 33 Clovis sites from western Canada and all across the US. In 88% of the sites mammoth/mastodon and bison were the prevalent prey. Looking at the ethnographic evidence from extant hunter-gatherers further provided proof of Clovis as specialized big-game hunters instead of general foragers. The ethnographic evidence showed that low population densities went after bigger game animals, including elephants. The Clovis definitely had low population densities and this long with the evidence from the 33 sites seems to prove the long held assumption that the Clovis were very specialized big game hunters. Smaller fauna were also found at the sites. Of course the Clovis would also utilize smaller game if it suited them but they were moslty big game hunters. It's interesting the archaeologists that try and promote the Clovis as general foragers (notably Meltzer) are opposed to the Overkill Hypothesis put forth by Todd Surovell.

Surovell T and Waguespack N. Clovis Hunting Strategies, Or How To Make Out On Plentiful Resources. American Antiquity. 2003. Vol. 68 No. 2 (332-352).