Overshot Flaking at the Arc Site, Genesee County, New York: Examining the Clovis-Gainey Connection

Abstract

There are a number of purported distinctions between Clovis and Gainey technology. Prominent among these is the lack of overshot flaking in the production of Gainey bifaces. A recent survey of debitage from the Arc site in western New York state suggests that overshot flaking was indeed practiced by Paleoindians in the Lower Great Lakes, suggesting that Clovis and Gainey technology may be more similar than generally thought. It is concluded that a technological, and perhaps terminological, reexamination of the “Gainey concept” is in order. Keywords: