Clovis Culture and Its Defining Characteristics

The Clovis culture — identified and named in the 1930s after early discoveries near Clovis, New Mexico — is one of the most widely distributed and most studied archaeological traditions in North American prehistory.

Its signature is the fluted projectile point, but Clovis represents far more than just a distinctive point type.

Clovis technology is a comprehensive toolkit, not a single artifact.

The Clovis assemblage typically includes not just the finished projectile points but also the bifaces that were carried as raw material, a range of flake tools used for cutting, scraping, and other tasks, and sometimes bone and ivory tools.