At the end of the last ice age, North America was the stage of a great mystery. Ancient societies that lived on the land for a short, yet significant period, vanished from the face of the earth. They left behind the faint footprints of culture and knowledge that are unique, and with no direct trace of where it came from. Who were the Clovis People? And what caused them to disappear?
Lost civilizations are embedded in the human psyche and story. It’s not commonly known, however, that North America was home to an ancient society of people lost to the record books. Archaeologists are now uncovering the story of the Clovis People.
At the border of the last Ice Age, the ancient Clovis society lived over much of the North American continent. Then they suddenly vanished.
Their remains can be identified through their unique spear points. They are found all over North America for 800 years, before fading from the fossil record. Today, it’s a mystery as to what happened to the Clovis People.
While baffling scientists, the Clovis People are an ancient society that could unearth an entire missing piece of the human origin story.
Who were the Clovis People?
In 1932 the first excavated remains of the Clovis people were discovered. The evidence was a set of uniquely crafted spear points which have now been found in over 1500 locations across North America.
The initial finds were in Clovis, New Mexico, where the Culture derives their name. Since then their fingerprints have been found all over the continent of North America (in every state except for Hawaii).
Their rapid spread is an impressive clue of a vast ancient society. They lived over large distances in relatively short amounts of time in an occupation spanning less than 1000 years.
The spear points of the Clovis people. A lost ancient society of North America.
The strange beginning and end of the Clovis People
New theories are re-defining when North American Paleo-Indians migrated out of Western Alaska. It happened between c. 40,000 – c. 16,500 years. Until very recently, it was thought that the Clovis were the first. However, there is evidence of people in North America before them.
Signs of the Clovis culture can be dated to the Americas at around 13,500 years ago. This is the border of the last ice age. As this predates written writing, the only way to identify them is by what they left behind.
Records show the Clovis Culture appear, seemingly out of nowhere and quickly spread across the continent. The remains show up within an 800-year period. It is still unclear who they were and where they came from.
Then, 12,800 years ago the Clovis People of North America suddenly disappeared.
They came, they spread, they vanished.
A thriving North American ancient society
The that the Clovis thrived from the time of their arrival could be evidence of culture beyond hunter-gathering. Their skills were very adaptive to a difficult North American environment. They lived alongside the largest number of megafauna species on the planet at the time.
Evidence has been found of campsites and stone quarries, mined for generations. These were people with ingenious adaption, but also the signs of the first civilized society.
These include:
Early evidence of sedentary dwelling
The swift expanse of the Clovis people showed they were adept at finding food sources. Analysis of spear points reveal the types of animals they hunted. Although they were found in and around mammoth remains, they preferred hunting turtles.
As a species that live for a year without food, keeping turtles could have been a way of reducing nomadic hunting needs. These could be traits of a herder-gatherer society.
Ancient technology
The Clovis spears were extremely important to the culture. There is evidence they traveled for hundreds of miles just to find specific materials to carve spear points from.
It is as if the spears were a rite of passage for the culture; not only are Clovis points extremely difficult to carve, they are easily chipped and broken while trying to do so.
They used a technology called ‘overshot flaking’ (bifacial thinning) to create them. It’s the only culture so far in North America to have been found to adopt this technology, and one of the few in the entire world.
Culture and religion
Evidence has also been uncovered of ceremonial and society-like culture. Spear points have been often found with red ochre decorating them.
The remains of only one person of the Clovis culture has been found. His name is Anzick-1 a toddler found in a grave would become dated to 12,600 years ago. He was laid to rest surrounded by at least 100 stone tools, and 15 ivory ones. Some of these were covered in red ochre, and together they suggest Anzick was a very special child who had been ceremonially buried in splendor.
It represents non-hunter gatherer behavior, and perhaps a belief system in the culture existed. These are further evidence of an ancient society.
Where did they come from?
Another unanswered question regarding the Clovis Culture is how they first arrived in North America 13,500 years ago. The dominant theory for the past century is they came on foot from Siberia, and in doing so were the first to populate the Americas.
This hypothetical journey would have taken them into Alaska through the Bering Strait. It would not be possible to do today, however, 13,500 years ago sea levels were 400 feet lower, meaning vast expanses of land would have been exposed.
This path would have led them through the ice-free corridor of North America, which was a road between the two great ice sheets. However, no Clovis points have ever been found in Siberia. Older remains of non-Clovis people have been found across the Americas. These suggest that there was more than one passage to the continent.
If the Clovis people took the land bridge, the evidence should suggest this progression. The oldest Clovis tools are not on the Great Plains, or in the Great Basin or Southwest of the U.S. These places would explain a trickle in from Siberia. Instead, older Clovis remains are found in the eastern and southeastern regions of the U.S.
It’s possible that Ice Age Europeans may have crossed into North America by boats, hugging the edges of the great ice sheets that stretched from Greenland westward to what is now upstate New York.
This theory links the Clovis to similar spearheads found on the Iberian Peninsula and France.
If they had of arrived by boat, it would pre-date Columbus’s journey across the Ocean by over 10 000 years.
What happened to the Clovis People?
Another big question is why the Clovis suddenly seem to ‘vanish’ from the record.
Evidence of campsites that were abandoned at the exact same time are found across the country. Archaeologists have also found evidence of stone quarries that were mined for generations entirely left in this exact period.
These are various clues that point to the Clovis’ rapid extinction. It corresponds to a significant event in earth’s history.
Geological evidence of this prehistoric period, coincide to a period roughly 12, 800 years ago. It is the beginning of what is known as the Younger Dryas period as the earth transitioned from the last ice age. In this time the planet, which had been heating for around 6000 years, was plunged back into ice age conditions.
Extreme weather conditions reveal that North America experienced cataclysmic like conditions during this period. Periods of disaster like climate change, global sea rises of almost 400 feet, and the North American ice sheet vanished in an instant.
Evidence of catastrophic flooding now exists that swept across vast parts of North America. Geological scars can be observed right across the land. Recently, the recording of a ‘black mat layer,’ show that destructive wildfires spread across North America, as well as the globe.
The Clovis people weren’t the only living creatures to disappear. It was a period that saw the extinction of nearly 120 species of megafauna that once dominated the North American landscape.
Whatever caused these events were violent enough to kill all of the Clovis instantly.
Many theories are trying to explain why all of this occurred. The disaster-like scenario is supported by the 500-year fossil gap until the next culture emerges.
Conclusion: A missing piece in American History
The Clovis people had a rapid emergence and even faster disappearance. Many theories are actively trying to explain this archaeological mystery; none are agreed upon.
With only fossils and carved spear points to turn to, the Clovis Culture may never be fully understood. Yet, as the context of prehistory continues to be discovered, a better idea of the conditions around the planet is beginning to emerge.
By combining geological evidence to the Clovis people’s story, we could see a new chapter added to American history books.
Now it’s up to you.
Why do you think the Clovis people suddenly vanished?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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