Understanding "Clovis" Fluted Point Variability in the Northeast: A Perspective from the Debert Site, Nova Scotia

Abstract

This paper compares fluted points from the Debert site, Nova Scotia, with assemblages of or Clovis-like fluted points from across the Midwest and Northeast regions. The focus is on compa- rison of continuous variables that previous research has suggested may be useful in dis- tinguishing regional, temporal, and artifact life-history variation. The results indicate that while Debert points are most similar to those from such sites as Vail, Maine, and Lamb, New York, they differ significantly in certain characteristics. It is also concluded that the Debert points represent a very exhausted assemblage in comparison to other reported sites. In particular, the Debert assemblage includes a large number of forms with sub-triangular outlines, which all evidence suggests represent the use and reshaping of snapped tips derived from an initial larger, more parallel-sided form. Possible explana- tions for this emphasis are suggested. Resume. Cet article compare les pointes a cannelure provenant du site de Debert en Nouvelle Ecosse avec des assemblages de pointes a cannelure « Clovis » ou « appa- rentes a Clovis » du Midwest et du Nord-Est americain. Nous mettons l'accent sur la com- paraison de variables continues qui, selon des etudes anterieures, aident a distinguer les variations regionales, temporelles, et celles associees aux modifications subies par l'artefact a travers son histoire. Les resultats indiquent que meme si les pointes de Debert ressemblent davantage a celles de sites comme Vail dans l'etat du Maine, ou Lamb, dans l'etat de New York, elles presentent des differences importantes pour certaines carac- teristiques. En comparaison avec d'autres sites etudies, nous concluons egalement que les pointes de Debert sont dans l'ensemble epuisees. Notons en particulier que la collec- tion de Debert comprend un grand nombre de formes avec des contours subtriangulaires, ce qui suggere l'utilisation et le refaconnage des extremites fracturees provenant de formes a l'origine plus grandes et aux bords plus paralleles. Nous proposons des explica- tions possibles pour ce phenomene.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 53 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.