Discoveries suggest the Clovis people were not alone

 

Stone spearheads and human DNA found in Oregon caves, anthropologists say, have produced firmer evidence that these are the oldest directly dated remains of people in North America. They also show that at least two cultures with distinct technologies -- not a single one, as had been supposed -- shared the continent more than 13,000 years ago.
In other words, the Clovis people, long known for their graceful fluted projectile points, were not alone in the New World. The occupants of Paisley Caves, on the east side of the Cascade Range, near the town of Paisley, left narrow-stemmed spear points shaped by different flaking techniques. These hunting implements are classified as the Western Stemmed Tradition, previously thought to be younger than the Clovis technology.
The new research, based on the recent discovery of the artifacts and more refined radiocarbon dating tests, established that the cave dwellers who made the Western Stemmed points overlapped or possibly preceded the Clovis artisans elsewhere, the scientists reported in a paper published online by the journal Science.


Discoveries suggest the Clovis people were not alone | StarTribune.com