Clovis points are characterized by their distinctive fluting — a channel flake removed from the base of both faces of the point, creating a thinned base that facilitated hafting.

The technical skill required to produce Clovis fluting is considerable, and the fluting technique itself appears to be an innovation — there are no clear antecedents for it in the earlier archaeological record outside the Americas.

Western Stemmed Tradition points are not fluted.

They are produced through percussion and pressure flaking, but the specific thinning method differs from Clovis.

The reduction sequences used to make them — the step-by-step process of removing flakes to shape the stone — are different from Clovis reduction sequences in ways that suggest they were not simply a Clovis technology adapted into a different form.

They may represent a different technological tradition altogether.