The makers of the Manis point had access to mastodon bone — suggesting they had previously acquired mastodon material somehow — and the skill to work it into a functional weapon.

They may or may not have had access to good knapping stone of the quality needed for a Clovis point.

On the Olympic Peninsula, which is underlain by a complex mix of volcanic and metamorphic rocks rather than the fine-grained sedimentary stones best for flaking, suitable raw material for Clovis-quality stone tools may not have been locally available.

This raises a possibility that deserves consideration: some pre-Clovis people may have been using bone projectile technology not because they were unaware of stone-tipping but because bone was available and suitable for their purposes and their raw material environment.

Technological traditions are shaped partly by what works and partly by what is available.