When did the Clovis culture flourish? Jan (16)

Hi Jan

I’m afraid I don’t know very much about the Clovis culture but I have been doing a little research and hopefully I’ll be able to help answer your question. During the excavation of a bed of mammoth bones in New Mexico in 1932, archaeologist Edgar Howard discovered a large stone tool embedded in one of the mammoth bones. This was the first evidence of the Clovis culture, named after the nearby town of Clovis, and since then similar stone tools have been found across North America. You can find out a little more about how they made their tools in this short video.     

Evidence for the Clovis culture in North America dates to around 13,000 years BP and their material culture is present in the archaeological record for around 400-600 years. For a long time they were believed to be the first humans to live on the North American continent but research has now proved that there may have been early groups of people with different styles of tools who arrived on the continent around 14,000 years BP, at least 1,000 years earlier than the Clovis culture.   

Thanks for sending in such an interesting question, I hope my answer helps.