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Prismatic Blade Production at the Sinclair Site, Tennessee: Implications for Understanding Clovis Technological Organization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2022

Jesse W. Tune Open the ORCID record for Jesse W. Tune [Opens in a new window] ,
Thomas A. Jennings  and
Aaron Deter-Wolf
Jesse W. Tune*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, USA
Thomas A. Jennings
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
Aaron Deter-Wolf
Affiliation:
Tennessee Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN, USA
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
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Abstract

The Tennessee Division of Archaeology documented an extensive Paleoindian lithic quarry and workshop at the Sinclair site in Tennessee in 2008. We present the first detailed description of the lithic assemblage here, which focuses on aspects of its prismatic blade technology. Quantitative and qualitative attributes of 117 blades are assessed to characterize the assemblage and investigate human behaviors related to its formation. We then compare the blades from Sinclair to other blade assemblages. Blades at Clovis workshop sites are large and generally unstandardized. Mobile Clovis bands selected long, highly standardized blades from workshop sites, cached them as resource insurance, and crafted and used them as tools at campsites. The prismatic blade assemblage at Sinclair and other sites throughout the Midsouth suggests that this region played an important role in the development of prismatic blade technology at the end of the Pleistocene.

La División de Arqueología de Tennessee documentó una extensa cantera y taller lítico Paleoindio en el sitio de Sinclair en Tennessee en 2008. Aquí se presenta la primera descripción detallada del conjunto lítico y se enfoca en aspectos de la tecnología de briznas prismáticas presentes en el sitio. Se evalúan los atributos cuantitativos y cualitativos de 117 briznas para caracterizar el ensamblaje e investigar los comportamientos humanos relacionados con su formación. Luego, las briznas de Sinclair se comparan con otros conjuntos de briznas. Las cuchillas en los sitios de los talleres de Clovis son grandes y generalmente no están estandarizadas. Las grupos móviles de Clovis seleccionaron briznas largas y altamente estandarizadas de los sitios de los talleres, las almacenaron en caché como seguro de recursos y las diseñaron y usaron como herramientas en los campamentos. El conjunto de cuchillas prismáticas en Sinclair y otros sitios en Midsouth sugiere que esta región jugó un papel importante en el desarrollo de la tecnología de cuchillas prismáticas al final del Pleistoceno.

Keywords

ClovisPaleoindianprismatic blade technologylithic technological organizationhunter-gatherer behaviorClovisPaleoindiotecnología de briznas prismáticasorganización tecnológica líticacomportamiento del cazador-recolector
Type
Report
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , July 2022 , pp. 601 - 610
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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