image: Northern fluted points from the Serpentine Hot Springs archaeological site. view more
Credit: PNAS
Researchers report the spread of fluted-point tools in Arctic North America. The emergence and spread of fluted projectile points have been linked to the spread of humans in the Western Hemisphere. However, the cultural and evolutionary histories of fluted tools in Arctic North America, such as in the Ice-Free Corridor of western Canada and in Eastern Beringia, remain unclear. Heather Smith and Ted Goebel explored the evolutionary relationship among fluted-point variants from North America to help explain the origins and spread of fluted-point technology during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene epochs. The analysis included more than 200 fluted-point specimens from Alaska, the northern Yukon, the Ice-Free Corridor, the temperate Great Plains, the eastern United States, and Canada. The authors evaluated the fluted specimens using geometric-morphometric shape analysis and patterns of technological characteristics that complement geographic locations of dated archaeological sites. The results revealed similarities in the morphologies and technologies of Clovis, Ice-Free Corridor, and Northern fluted-specimens, suggesting that fluting technology in the Arctic likely originated in areas of the ice-free corridor, and ultimately, temperate North America. Additionally, the authors suggest that regional variations in fluted-point technology might be associated with the ecological settings in which humans used the technology. The findings might help unravel patterns of human dispersal in the Americas, according to the authors.
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Article #18-00312: "Origins and spread of fluted-point technology in the Canadian Ice-Free Corridor and eastern Beringia," by Heather L. Smith and Ted Goebel.
MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Smith, Eastern New Mexico University, NM; tel: 575-562-2583; e-mail: heather.l.smith@enmu.edu
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences