In the state of Zacatecas, Mexican archaeologists have discovered a heavily worn tip of a Clovis spear. It was made by ancient hunter-gatherers about 11 thousand years ago. This find confirmed that a continental route passed through Zacatecas, along which ancient migrants moved from north to south. This was reported in a press release from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico.
In North and Central America about 13.5-10.8 thousand years ago, the Clovis archaeological culture was formed. It got its name thanks to tools and animal bones discovered in the 1930s near the city of the same name in New Mexico. Since then, researchers have found more than ten thousand characteristic stone artifacts in approximately 1,500 locations in North America. The oldest of these, with reliable dating, were found in Texas. You can learn more about where the Clovis people came from in our material “Columbus of the Stone Age”.
The most typical and recognizable stone tools of the Clovis culture are spearheads and darts. These are upholstered lanceolate objects with a concave base, on each side of which there is a longitudinal groove. These points are usually found in ancient hunting camps along with other tools such as scrapers or choppers, as well as the bones of horses, bison, mammoths or deer.
Archaeologist Vladimir Huerta Arellano, together with colleagues from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, surveyed an area near the city of Fresnillo in the state of Zacatecas, where they plan to install photovoltaic installations. During the work, scientists discovered a stone spearhead measuring 4.8 × 2.6 × 0.76 centimeters, which typologically refers to the Clovis culture
According to researchers, the age of the artifact is about 11 thousand years. It was made from local raw materials – chalcedony. Scientists noted that in the 1980s, the remains of a mammoth were found in this area, on the bones of which there were traces of tools. However, then the researchers never found any artifacts associated with the ancient hunters.
The archaeologists noted that this find is comparable to finding a needle in a haystack, as they explored an area of 242 hectares. In their opinion, a continental route passed through the state of Zacatecas, along which ancient American populations moved from north to south in the late Pleistocene – early Holocene. These tips sometimes exceed 15 centimeters in length. However, the recovered item was badly worn out and, most likely, was repeatedly reworked.
