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. 2018 Jul 11;4(7):eaar5954.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aar5954. eCollection 2018 Jul.

Evidence of an early projectile point technology in North America at the Gault Site, Texas, USA

Thomas J Williams  1 , Michael B Collins  1 , Kathleen Rodrigues  2   3 , William Jack Rink  4 , Nancy Velchoff  1 , Amanda Keen-Zebert  2 , Anastasia Gilmer  5 , Charles D Frederick  6 , Sergio J Ayala  1 , Elton R Prewitt  7
Affiliations

Evidence of an early projectile point technology in North America at the Gault Site, Texas, USA

Thomas J Williams et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

American archeology has long been polarized over the issue of a human presence in the Western Hemisphere earlier than Clovis. As evidence of early sites across North and South America continues to emerge, stone tool assemblages appear more geographically and temporally diverse than traditionally assumed. Within this new framework, the prevailing models of Clovis origins and the peopling of the Americas are being reevaluated. This paper presents age estimates from a series of alluvial sedimentary samples from the earliest cultural assemblage at the Gault Site, Central Texas. The optically stimulated luminescence age estimates (~16 to 20 thousand years ago) indicate an early human occupation in North America before at least ~16 thousand years ago. Significantly, this assemblage exhibits a previously unknown, early projectile point technology unrelated to Clovis. Within a wider context, this evidence suggests that Clovis technology spread across an already regionalized, indigenous population.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Location of the Gault Site, Texas, USA.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Stratigraphic profile of the Area 15 excavation block showing the diagnostic cultural materials and components alongside the stratigraphic sequence.
Diagnostic projectile points listed on the left were all found within the associated deposits (SMH, St. Mary’s Hall). Stratigraphic unit numbers are shown on the right, and the cultural horizons are highlighted in gray.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Gault Assemblage artifacts
(A to D, F, and L) Bifaces. (E) Blade core. (G) Quartz projectile point. (H and I) Projectile points. (K) Projectile point tip. (M, V, and W) Blade. (N) Unifacial tool. (O and T) Gravers. (P) Discoidal biface. (Q) End scraper. (R to U) Modified flake tools. (X and Y) Lanceolate projectile points. Descriptions are given in the Supplementary Materials.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. OSL ages in association with the stratigraphic units and the projectile points recovered from the Gault Assemblage (not to scale).
Stratigraphic unit numbers are shown on the left, and the cultural horizons are highlighted in gray. Clovis ages have been reported elsewhere (see text).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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