Experimental bison butchery using replica hafted Clovis fluted points and large handheld flakes

Abstract

Late Pleistocene Clovis fluted points and stone flake tools have been found in association with bison at several archaeological sites in western North America. To gain insight into how these tools may have functioned in bison butchery, as well as to assess the assumptions or interpretations of these implements by archaeologists, we conducted a bison-processing experiment. We examined the relative efficacy in the butchering process of hafted fluted points versus handheld flakes and of different Clovis point forms; the types of tool breakage that might occur during butchering; cut-marks that might occur on bones; and, the effects of edge resharpening, both in terms of cutting efficiency and in the before/after form of the points and flake tools used in the process. We also recorded several unanticipated observations on, but not limited to, field-processor injury, the function of fluted point proximal-lateral edge grinding, and tool loss during the butchery event. Overall, our experiment emphasizes the prevalence of equifinality in archaeological interpretation, as it shows that numerous aspects of the Clovis archaeological record – as it is currently understood – can be equally explained by several distinct processes.