The people we now call Clovis, were in North America by the end of the last ice age. It has been suggested that they were here between 12,000 and 11,200 years ago though new research and discoveries may move this date back and suggested dates could be as far back as 15,000 years to 24,000 years.
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Proof that Paleo-Indians had lived in the New World since the late Pleistocene was first provided by the discovery of human artifacts associated with the bones of long-extinct animals at Folsom, New Mexico in 1926-1927. In 1932, 150 miles south of Folsom, a large but extremely well-made stone tool located near a very large animal tooth was found. Excavations were carried out at Blackwater Draw near Clovis, New Mexico.
Blackwater Locality No. 1 is the "Clovis Type Site" for the oldest accepted widespread culture in the New World. Evidence of their "fluted" points (a New World invention), other stone and bone weapons, tools, and processing implements are found at the site. These implements are in association with extinct Pleistocene megafauna such as Columbian mammoth, ancient bison, large horses, and large turtles. Other Pleistocene age animals that visited the site for food and water were tapir, camel, four-prong antelope, tampulama, llama, deer, dire wolf, ground sloth, short-faced bear, saber-tooth cat, shovel-toothed amebeledon, beaver, armadillos, and peccary.
Although the archaeological remains associated with the Clovis site and culture are bones and stones, they represent a living culture at one time present in the geographical area we now call New Mexico. The written history of New Mexico is preceded by thousands of years of human habitation and a legacy that lives on in the archaeological record.
Sources Used:
Frison, George and Bruce Bradley. The Fenn Cache: Clovis weapons and Tools. Santa Fe: One Horse Land and Cattle Company, 1999 (pp. 1-5).
Thomas, David Hurst. Exploring Native North America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000 (pp. 19-29).
Melzer, David J. Search for the First Americans. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.
Bonnichsen, Robson, and Karen L. Turmire. Clovis: Origins and Adaptions. Corvalis: Center for the First Americans, Oregon State University, 1991.
http://www.enmu.edu/academics/excellence/museums/blackwater-draw/site/index.shtml
Boldurian, Anthony and John L. Cotter. Clovis Revisited: New Perspectives on Paleoindian Adaptations for Blackwater Draw New Mexico. Philadelphia, The University Museum University of Pennsylvania, 1999.
