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The Coats-Hines Site: Tennessee's first Paleoindian-mastodon associate
... Outcrops of Fort Payne and Bigby-Canon limestones, which contain seams of chert, occur upslope of the site (Wilson and Miller, 1963). A series of excavations from 1994 to 1995 focused in Area B of the site and exposed a bone bed containing the disarticulated remains of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) along with highly fragmented remains of horse (Equus), deer (Odocoileus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), canid (Canis), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), frog (Rana), and painted turtle (Chrysemys) (Fig. 2) (Breitburg et al., 1996). Lithic and osseous artifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). ...
... A series of excavations from 1994 to 1995 focused in Area B of the site and exposed a bone bed containing the disarticulated remains of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) along with highly fragmented remains of horse (Equus), deer (Odocoileus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), canid (Canis), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), frog (Rana), and painted turtle (Chrysemys) (Fig. 2) (Breitburg et al., 1996). Lithic and osseous artifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). A single radiocarbon age on charcoal yielded an age of 27,050 ± 200 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-80169), or~31,000 cal yr B.P. (Table 1), though younger ages were obtained on organic sediments (Breitburg et al., 1996). ...
... Lithic and osseous artifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). A single radiocarbon age on charcoal yielded an age of 27,050 ± 200 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-80169), or~31,000 cal yr B.P. (Table 1), though younger ages were obtained on organic sediments (Breitburg et al., 1996). In 2010, a trench was excavated and yielded additional faunal remains, more chert fragments, and a new radiocarbon age of 29,120 ± 150 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-288802), or 33,200 cal yr B.P. (Table 1) (Deter-Wolf et al., 2011). ...
Genomic studies indicate that the first Pleistocene foragers who entered North America diverged from
ancestral populations in Beringia sometime after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); however, several
archaeological sites in North America have been proposed to predate the LGM. We present the results of
our excavation and analysis of one such site, Coats-Hines-Litchy, Tennessee, which show that this site is a
paleontological locality containing a geofact assemblage that pre-dates the LGM. Other sites in North
America that purportedly predate the LGM occur in geomorphic contexts that are also conducive to the
formation of geofact assemblages. As such, we propose that the reported artifacts from these sites were
created by natural processes. No sites in North America currently provide credible evidence of a pre-LGM
occupation.
... Outcrops of Fort Payne and Bigby-Canon limestones, which contain seams of chert, occur up- slope of the site (Wilson and Miller, 1963). A series of excavations from 1994 to 1995 focused in Area B of the site and exposed a bone bed containing the disarticulated remains of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) along with highly fragmented remains of horse (Equus), deer (Odocoileus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), canid (Canis), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), frog (Rana), and painted turtle (Chrysemys) (Fig. 2) (Breitburg et al., 1996). Lithic and osseous ar- tifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). ...
... A series of excavations from 1994 to 1995 focused in Area B of the site and exposed a bone bed containing the disarticulated remains of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) along with highly fragmented remains of horse (Equus), deer (Odocoileus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), canid (Canis), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), frog (Rana), and painted turtle (Chrysemys) (Fig. 2) (Breitburg et al., 1996). Lithic and osseous ar- tifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). A single radiocarbon age on charcoal yielded an age of 27,050 ± 200 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-80169), or ~31,000 cal yr B.P. (Table 1), though younger ages were obtained on organic sediments ( Breitburg et al., 1996). ...
... Lithic and osseous ar- tifacts were found during the excavations and potential cutmarks made by stone tools were identified on one vertebrae fragment (Breitburg et al., 1996). A single radiocarbon age on charcoal yielded an age of 27,050 ± 200 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-80169), or ~31,000 cal yr B.P. (Table 1), though younger ages were obtained on organic sediments ( Breitburg et al., 1996). In 2010, a trench was excavated and yielded additional faunal remains, more chert fragments, and a new radiocarbon age of 29,120 ± 150 14 C yr B.P. (Beta-288802), or ~33,200 cal yr B.P. (Table 1) (Deter-Wolf et al., 2011). ...
The Coats-Hines Site was first recorded in 1977 when mastodon remains were identified during construction of a golf course in Brentwood, TN. In 1994 subdivision construction and excavations by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology uncovered remains of two additional mastodons and an assortment of other late Pleistocene animals. The importance of the site was elevated when lithic tools were found in association with one of the mastodons, which exhibited cut marks from butchering. Over the last 14 years, reconnaissance investigations at the site have continued to produce material. This presentation will describe the current condition of the site and discuss a May 2008 visit that resulted in the identification of additional faunal remains.
... There are ways in which biases in that Table 1 Sites with Early Paleoindian or potentially Early Paleoindian faunal remains (see Fig. 1 Frison and Stanford (1982) Clovis Stratum Alexon (Wacissa River) FL Mihlbachler et al. (2000), Webb et al. (1983Webb et al. ( , 1984 Assemblage Aubrey TX Ferring (2001) Pond Str. C2/E1 and E1, Red Wedge, Camp B Blackwater Locality 1 NM Hester (1972) and Slaughter (1975) Brown Sand Wedge, Gray Sand Boaz WI Palmer and Stoltman (1976) and Stoltman (1991) Assemblage Bonfire Shelter TX Bement (1986) and Dibble and Lorrain (1968) Bone Bed 1 (1980s) Bull Brook MA Byers (1954), Grimes et al. (1984) and Spiess et al. (1985) Assemblage Burning Tree OH Fisher et al. (1994) Assemblage Carter/Kerr-McGee WY Frison (1984) Clovis component Coats-Hines TN Breitburg and Broster (1995) and Breitburg et al. (1996) Assemblage Colby WY Frison and Todd (1986) Assemblage Connley Caves OR Bedwell (1973), Grayson (1979) and Beck et al. (2004) Stratum 4 in Caves 4 and 6 Dent CO Brunswig and Fisher (1993) and Cassells (1997) Assemblage Domebo OK Leonhardy (1966) Elephant quarry Duewall-Newberry TX Steele and Carlson (1989) Assemblage Dutton CO Stanford (1979) Clovis layer (above Gleysol) Escapule AZ Hemmings and Haynes (1969) and Saunders (n.d.) Assemblage Fishbone Cave NV Orr (1956Orr ( , 1974 Level 4 Fort Rock Cave OR Bedwell (1973) and Grayson (1979) Overstreet (1998) and Overstreet and Kolb (2003) Assemblage Heisler MI Fisher (1987 Assemblage Henwood CA Douglas et al. (1988) Component 1 Hermit's Cave NM Ferdon (1946) and Harris (1985) Assemblage Hiscock NY Laub (2002), Laub et al. (1988) and Steadman (1988) Gravelly clay Huntington Dam UT Madsen (1992, 1993) and Madsen (2000) Assemblage Jaguar Cave ID Kurten and Anderson (1972), Miller (1965) and Sadek-Kooros (1972a) Hearth III Jake Bluff OK Bement and Carter (2003) Assemblage Kimmswick MO Graham and Kay (1988) Units C1 and C3 Kincaid Shelter TX Collins (1990) and Collins et al. (1989) Zone 4 Klein CO Zier et al. (1993) Assemblage Lange-Ferguson SD Hannus (1990a, b), Martin (1987) and Stewart and Martin (1993) Assemblage Lehner AZ Haury et al. (1959), Lance (1959) and Saunders (1977, n.d.) Clovis Surface Leikem AZ Saunders (n.d.) Assemblage Levi Shelter TX Alexander (1963Alexander ( , 1982 Zone II Lewisville TX Harris (1957, 1958) and Ferring (2001) 1950s and 1970s Assemblages Little Salt Spring FL Clausen et al. (1979) and Holman and Clausen (1984) Assemblage Lubbock Lake TX Johnson (1987) Strata IB and IC Manis WA Gustafson (1985), Gustafson et al. (1979) and Petersen et al. (1983) Brown Alluvium ...
... At the Coats-Hines site (TN), it has also been proposed that a co-occurrence of artifacts and mastodon bones reflects a behavioral association between humans and this taxon (Breitburg and Broster, 1995;Breitburg et al., 1996). No projectile points were found at this site, and only broadly limiting radiocarbon dates are available for it, but it is argued that the tools that were recovered are ''known only from Paleoindian kill or task-specific butchering sites'' (Breitburg et al., 1996, p. 7). ...
North American archaeologists have spent much effort debating whether Early Paleoindian foragers were specialized hunters of megafauna or whether they pursued more generalized subsistence strategies. In doing so, many have treated the foraging practices of early North Americans as if they must have been uniform across the continent, even though others have pointed out that adaptations appear to have varied among groups inhabiting different kinds of environments. Resolving these issues fully requires referring to archaeofaunal data and evaluating those data critically. In this paper, we conduct such an evaluation of the existing Early Paleoindian faunal record, which we then use to test the hypothesis that early Americans across the continent specialized in the hunting of megafauna. After detailed attention is given to taphonomic issues, to the limited geographical distribution of sites with secure associations between humans and prey taxa, and to differences among sites in the roles that they likely played in settlement and subsistence systems, it becomes clear that the faunal record provides little support for the idea that all, or even any, Early Paleoindian foragers were megafaunal specialists. It does appear, however, that there was considerable variability in Early Paleoindian prey choice across the continent, which was likely related to variability in the environments that different groups inhabited.
... In addition to several Early Archaic components, a fluted component was dated from charcoal from a possible hearth (11,780 ± 980,11,980 ± 110,. Finally, the Coats-Hines site contains the remains of a disarticulated mastodon in Late Pleistocene pond deposits along with 34 chert artifacts including a prismatic blade, a bifacial knife, and several other tools (Breitburg et al. 1996;Broster and Norton 1996). This site has produced three radiocarbon dates, the first (6530 ± 70, Beta-75403) from soil and plant remains from the dental cusps and the second (27,050 ± 200, Beta-80169) from the sediments below the deposit. ...
... Mastodont bones are said to have been marked by stone-tool edges, although adequate illustrations of the marks have not been published. Also found were lithic resharpening flakes and a prismatic blade, part of a biface, scrapers, gravers, and cores (Breitburg et al. 1996). Besides bones of mastodont, the site also contained remains of deer, turtles, and muskrat. ...
This paper reviews the published information, uncertainties about claims, and possible technological and cultural relationships of a sample of sites which have older-than-Clovis dates in North America. The goal is to trace the origins of “Classic” Clovis techno-cultural patterns. Some sites in the sample contain lithic artifacts and some do not. Production technology and artifact characteristics in a number of the lithic sites (such as Debra Friedkin and possibly Page-Ladson) may be evidence of Clovis ancestry, but the lithic materials in most pre-Clovis sites cannot be explicitly linked to Clovis. A few nonlithic sites (such as Manis, Firelands, and Lindsay) may indicate a pre-Clovis pattern of large-mammal exploitation foreshadowing a later Clovis trait. Overall, the available data are incomplete or ambiguous, and as a result, individual interpretations have produced incompatible models of Clovis origins.
... Paleo-lndian tools also have been recovered in direct association with mastodon bones near Nashville, Tennessee. At the Coats-Hines Site (40WM31), 34 chert artifacts were recovered within the thoracic cavity of a mastodon (Breitburg et al. 1996). These artifacts consisted of 10 formal tools and tool fragments (one bifacial knife, two gravers, one prismatic blade, two unifacial side scrapers, and two scrapers/cores) and 24 resharpening flakes. ...
... Although radiocarbon ages from the mastodon bones themselves are not available, a date of 10,260 ± 240 14 C BP has been obtained from just above mastodon B, and of 12,030 ± 40 14 C BP from immediately beneath the ribs of this animal. A third radiocarbon date, of 12,050 ± 60 14 C BP, is available for the "top of the artifact-bearing deposit" (Deter-Wolf et al., 2011:152; see also Breitburg and Broster, 1995;Breitburg et al., 1996). Breitburg and Broster (1995) noted possible cut marks on the humerus and thoracic vertebra of Mastodon B. More recent work, however, identifies cut marks only on the spinous process of a thoracic vertebra, a specimen said to have been recovered in "direct contact with several lithic artifacts" (Deter-Wolf et al., 2011:147). ...
... Mastodont bones are said to have been marked by stone-tool edges, although adequate illustrations of the marks have not been published. Also found were lithic resharpening flakes and a prismatic blade, part of a biface, scrapers, gravers, and cores (Breitburg et al. 1996). Besides bones of mastodont, the site also contained remains of deer, turtles, and muskrat. ...
This paper reviews the published information, uncertainties about claims, and possible technological and cultural relationships of a sample of sites which have older-than-Clovis dates in North America. The goal is to trace the origins of “Classic” Clovis techno-cultural patterns. Some sites in the sample contain lithic artifacts and some do not. Production technology and artifact characteristics in a number of the lithic sites (such as Debra Friedkin and possibly Page-Ladsen) may be evidence of Clovis ancestry, but the lithic materials in most pre-Clovis sites cannot be explicitly linked to Clovis. A few nonlithics sites (such as Manis, Firelands, and Lindsay) may indicate a pre-Clovis pattern of large-mammal exploitation foreshadowing a later Clovis trait. Overall, the available data are incomplete or ambiguous, and, as a result, individual interpretations have produced incompatible models of Clovis origins
... At Coats-Hines (40Wm31), an apparent kill site in Tennessee, 10 chert tOols and 24 flakes were found with the remains of a disarticulated mastodon. Butchering marks and other evidence of human modification are apparent on a number of bones, and the tip of a bone projectile point was found berween the ribs of the mastOdon (Breitburg et al. 1996;J. Broster pers. ...
Paleoindian research effort in the Southeast and beyond in the years
to come should be directed, as much as possible, to primary data
collection, both through fieldwork and laboratory analyses; absolute
and relative dating of artifacts and assemblages; the use of calibrated
or calendar dates; the increasingadoption of multidisciplinary
research approaches; the development of well-grounded models; and
the full publication of the results of current and past fieldwork. The
reward structure of the archaeological profession, in academia and
beyond, should be refocused to emphasize the production of comprehensive
site reports and interpretiveanalyses employing largedata
sets, not the fragmentation of results into a myriad of preliminary
papers or journal articles. New research and researchers should be
welcomed and encouraged by members of the existing regional professional
community working on the Paleoindian era. The Southeast
has long prided itselfon maintaining a tradition of careful fieldwork,
sound linkages between primary data and interpretations and models
based on that data, and an openness and hospitality among the
members of its research community. These characteristics are ideally
suited to furthering Paleoindian research in the 21st century,
both in the Southeast and throughout the Americas.
... Paleo-Indian tools also have been recovered in direct association with mastodon bones near Nashville, Tennessee. At the Coats-Hines Site (40WM31), 34 chert artifacts were recovered within the thoracic cavity of a mastodon (Breitburg et al. 1996). These artifacts consisted of 10 formal tools and tool fragments (one bifacial knife, two gravers, one prismatic blade, two uniface side scrapers, and two scrapers/cores) and 24 resharpening flakes. ...
This report presents the results of Phase I cultural resources survey and archeological inventory of two marine and 11 terrestrial project items on and near Marsh Island in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. Approximately 175 linear km (109 linear mi) of marine survey was conducted off of the east coast of Marsh island in East Cote Blanche Bay. An additional 2.41 linear Ion (1.5 linear mi) of underwater survey was performed in Hawkins Bayou. The terrestrial portion of the investigation was limited to the northeastern portion of Marsh Island. It included an examination of 11 project items (two shoreline survey areas and nine existing canals) that measured a combined total of approximately 105 ac (42.5 ha) in size. This investigation was performed between July 20 and August 5, 1998 by R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District. All work was authorized under Con-tract No. DACW29-97-D-0018, Delivery Order 11. The marine remote sensing survey was designed to identify all submerged cultural resources located within the underwater areas of potential effect. It included the use of a side scan sonar, magnetometer, and fathometer. Terrestrial survey was designed to locate all cultural resources within each land-based project item. It included pedestrian survey and shovel testing to identify, record, and assess preliminarily all archeological sites located within the 11 terrestrial project items. This Phase I marine and terrestrial cultural resources survey and archeological inventory resulted in the identification of four potentially significant magnetic anomalies and one historic period locus (Locus 1). No prehistoric cultural material was identified or recovered as a result of this investigation. The four marine targets were assessed as potentially significant and additional examination or avoidance of these four anomalies was recommended.
At some time around the end of the last ice age, around 11,500 P14PC yr BP / 13,300 Cal yrs BP, the first human hunter-gatherer groups entered North America where they encountered diverse environments and climates. These groups once separate and exploring these landscapes in a vast continent were hunting and killing the same megafauna; perhaps for the first time, they would have encountered mammoth, mastodon, gomphothere, giant sloth and camel etc. Other smaller, more recognisable species were also present and hunted; elk, deer and caribou and bison for example. Clovis fluted points were long regarded as the hallmark of the first humans to occupy the Americas. The different environments and landscapes encountered by these separate groups may account for the extent of the variability of these points that are so characteristic of this period. In this thesis research I suggest that Clovis was not the first stone tool technology in North America and that fluted points evolved from an earlier technology, and that Clovis was a localised fluted form that evolved regionally as these first groups spread out across the continent.
In a previous study I asked the question "what is Clovis", perhaps after the present study "what is not Clovis" may be more appropriate.
This is an excerpt from chapter 5 of an out-of-print book (The Early Settlement of North America, (c) Cambridge University Press) by G. Haynes. This section discusses megaammal-hunting by fluted-point makers near the end of the Pleistocene.
This file is an extract from the out-of-print book "The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era" by G. Haynes. The file has 36 text pages, and also includes all references cited in the book's seven chapters. The file provides a view of some history and conflicts in the study of what is generally called 'the peopling of North America.'
Archaeologists have long envisioned direct encounters between Paleoindians and megafauna of the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT, 15-11.5 cal BP). Debate continues regarding the role that these Paleoindian hunters played in the extinction event(s). Archaeologists, paleontologists, and paleobiologists have proposed that Paleoindians proved to be very effective hunters who employed darts and spears tipped with razor-sharp, chipped-stone projectile points. These weapons are assumed to have been capable of inflicting mortal wounds and death as a result of massive blood loss. Few archaeologists, however, have considered the possible use of hunting poisons, as well as the implications of poison use for past procurement tactics and present-day archaeological research. This paper explores the feasibility of poison hunting by Paleoindians-specifically those derived from Aconitum spp. or monkshood-as well as the possible material correlates of this technology that might be observed in the archaeological record.
Clovis-era subsistence varied from site to site and region to region, but large mammals numerically dominate at archaeological sites with food remains. Plant remains are extremely scarce in Clovis sites. The lack of specialized processing and storage technology suggests seeds and nuts were not prominent in the diet, as they became in later times. Sites dated to a possible proto-Clovis phase, 1,000–3,000 years older than the generally accepted age of Clovis, also contain mostly or exclusively large-mammal remains. Many (perhaps most or all) of the largest animals were probably killed and butchered by Late Glacial foragers; they were not found dead and scavenged by people. Proboscidean carcass utilization by Clovis butchers was often incomplete, because Clovis foraging bands were small in number, very mobile, and most likely could predict where to find vulnerable prey. © 2014 by Kelly E. Graf, Caroline V. Ketron, and Michael R. Waters. All rights reserved.
These essays cast new light on Paleoindians, the first settlers of North America. Recent research strongly suggests that big-game hunting was but one of the subsistence strategies the first humans in the New World employed and that they also relied on foraging and fishing. Written in an accessible, engaging style, these essays examine how migratory waterfowl routes may represent one impetus for human migration into the Americas, analyze settlement and subsistence in the major regions of the United States, and reinvestigate mammoth and bison bone beds in the western Plains and the Rocky Mountains to illuminate the unique nature of Paleoindian hunting in that region. The first study of Paleoindian subsistence on a continental scale, this collection posits regional models of subsistence and mobility that take into account the constraints and opportunities for resource exploitation within each region: Research on the Gault site in Texas reveals new subsistence strategies there, while data from the Shawnee-Minisink site in Pennsylvania connects seed collecting with fishing in that region, and plant remains from Dust Cave in Alabama provide important information about subsistence. With research ranging from fauna and lithic data from Paleoindian campsites in Florida that illuminate subsistence technologies and late megamammals to an analysis of plant remains from the eastern United States that results in a revised scheme of environmental changes, this volume serves as an important sourcebook and guide to the latest research on the first humans in North America.
Who were the first humans to inhabit North America? According to the now familiar story, mammal hunters entered the continent some 12,000 years ago via a land bridge that spanned the Bering Sea. Distinctive stone tools belonging to the Clovis culture established the presence of these early New World people. But are the Clovis tools Asian in origin? Drawing from original archaeological analysis, paleoclimatic research, and genetic studies, noted archaeologists Dennis J. Stanford and Bruce A. Bradley challenge the old narrative and, in the process, counter traditional-and often subjective-approaches to archaeological testing for historical relatedness. The authors apply rigorous scholarship to a hypothesis that places the technological antecedents of Clovis in Europe and posits that the first Americans crossed the Atlantic by boat and arrived earlier than previously thought. Supplying archaeological and oceanographic evidence to support this assertion, the book dismantles the old paradigm while persuasively linking Clovis technology with the culture of the Solutrean people who occupied France and Spain more than 20,000 years ago.
This is the first book to provide a systematic overview of social zooarchaeology, which takes a holistic view of human–animal relations in the past. Until recently, archaeological analysis of faunal evidence has primarily focused on the role of animals in the human diet and subsistence economy. This book, however, argues that animals have always played many more roles in human societies: as wealth, companions, spirit helpers, sacrificial victims, totems, centerpieces of feasts, objects of taboos, and more. These social factors are as significant as taphonomic processes in shaping animal bone assemblages. Nerissa Russell uses evidence derived from not only zooarchaeology, but also ethnography, history, and classical studies to suggest the range of human–animal relationships and to examine their importance in human society. Through exploring the significance of animals to ancient humans, this book provides a richer picture of past societies.
Research into the earliest occupations in the southeastern United States has been underway since the 1930s, when a pattern of large-scale excavations combined with the reporting of surface finds was initiated that continues to this day. Work at Macon Plateau and Parrish Village, excavated during the New Deal, was followed by a series of stratigraphic excavations in floodplains, rockshelters, and other locales from the 1940s onward. These early studies produced a basic cultural sequence, portions of which were defined by cross-dating findings from the Southeast with discoveries made in other parts of the country. The Southeast is unique in that surveys of fluted projectile points have been conducted in every state, some since the 1940s. These surveys now encompass a wider range of projectile points and other tool forms, and the large numbers of Paleoindian artifacts found in the region suggest intensive occupation. Whether these quantities reflect the presence of large numbers of early people, or of modern collectors and extensive agriculture, remains the subject of appreciable debate. The regional radiocarbon record is fairly robust for the latter end of the period, but far more sample collection, analysis, and interpretation is needed. The regional literature is burgeoning, with research being conducted in every state, much of it funded by CRM activity.
The Coats-Hines archaeological site (40WM31) consists of a Paleoindian butchering site and Pleistocene bone bed located in northern Williamson County, Tennessee. Archaeological examinations since 1977 have documented the presence of various Pleistocene species, and recovered Paleoindian artifacts in direct association with those remains. The authors directed excavations in October 2010 designed to evaluate archaeological integrity and assess the eligibility of the site for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. These investigations resulted in the recovery of Pleistocene faunal material, Paleoindian stone tools, and radiocarbon samples. As a result of the excavations, the Coats-Hines site was added to the National Register in July 2011. This article provides a summary of work conducted at the site to date, presents previously unreported Paleoindian artifacts and radiocarbon dates from earlier excavations, and discusses the significance of the Coats-Hines site.
Clovis-era subsistence was variable from site to site and region to region, but large mammals numerically dominate at archeological sites with food remains. Plant remains are extremely scarce in Clovis sites. The lack of specialized processing and storage technology suggests seeds and nuts were not prominent in the diet, as they became in later times. Sites dated to a possible proto-Clovis phase, 1,000—3,000 years older than the generally accepted age of Clovis, also contain mostly or exclusively large-mammal remains. Many (perhaps most or all) of the largest animals were probably killed and butchered by Late Glacial foragers; they were not found dead and scavenged by people. Proboscidean carcass utilization by Clovis butchers was often incomplete, because Clovis foraging bands were small in number, very mobile, and most likely could predict where to find vulnerable prey.
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