Wife finds her FIRST Clovis in 2022

[SevenOut]

This was a surface find hiking up a steep hillside among pine trees. It is 2 inches long, 1 1/8 inch wide at the base. The flute is 1 1/4 inches on each side. Base is ground on both sides and flute base. The sharpening curved cutting area is still sharp. The sides are ground to the touch 1 1/4 inch. My brother had a name for this discarded Clovis, but with the cutting edge so limited, it was discarded is our Theory... and I am sticking to it. It had been sharpened down to the base of the handle.

She thought it was a flake, used and discarded for the cutting edge ignoring the 'color'... then reconsidered, backed up and ended up finding a Clovis. This is a very hard jasper and a quarry is known within 100 miles. I am not disclosing any location information, except when in person conversation. She was not sure what she found but when she saw my reaction... she immediately knew.

It is a 'stray find' and not a campsite, nor were any jasper flakes, percussion or pressure, found in the general area. We have much experience in the area and have never seen any Jasper flakes or nodules or signs of this material in the area found. They would have been carried in as the material does not exist in this entire area, except at the quarry with massive amounts of percussion flakes and quarry activity.

This material is not like Obsidian or Sedalia Missouri Chert... both are much easier to percussion and pressure flake, fine cutting edge work. I scanned this and the blade is almost... the thickness of four nickels stacked. This blade was made to last... and it served its owner very well. It may not be pretty... but holding a blade this old makes you sit down and try to visualize what this person, and not doubt others were along this rough area thousands of years ago. Makes you appreciate how, on foot, these people managed to survive... without a cell phone.

We are deciding if we should give the location in the State it was found and send it to the appropriate people. Often it would be treated as questionable and put in some drawer as questionable and forgotten.

[SevenOut]

A photograph of the terrain, similar to the find. When your wife enjoys to hike remote areas, hunt for chalcedony and finds a Clovis by accident... Both are keepers.

[Mattern]

It really does make you wonder just how many times an exhausted piece like that was used. These rejects, ( I don't like that phrase) I find to be more interesting than G 10s Great find Seven and in a hard location to hunt. Kim

[willjo]

You could record it in the paleo data base of the americas and keep the point. I record all my paleo pieces there. We are on East coast and our archaeologist work with collectors. I have some bad stories about the ones on west coast.

[smbore]

yup. that's where I'll leave that.

[smbore]

sweet find that's cool.

[SDhunter]

Love the story just about as much as the point. Congratulations

[paohrocks]

Nice find.

[sailorjoe]

Any Clovis is a great Clovis as rare as they are for most people to find. IMO a random find with no other points or other artifacts close by would be no benefit to pro archaeologists or to the scientific community. It would be different if you found a good many artifacts at the place you found it or nearby.

[SevenOut]

The Western USA offers many good finds that are 'strays'. Not discarded replacing a broken knife. Some are on the surface that has eroded. Most are buried under many feet of sediment and wind blown loess. Most will never be washed out as the area is stable and no sign of any camp site. Ravines are the windows for those who are experts.

A group carrying everything they felt of value to them while moving from A to B... occasionally drop a few things. This could be the case, as this is the only Paleo Point found in Mimbres Country. Rarely have we tripped over a Paleo Point in the 'high country'. Zero in fact. There are more Clovis and Daltons found on the south side of the Missouri River in Missouri to be discovered where you could see the River. Not along the river, but high above.

My first and only complete Clovis was found north of Independence, Missouri on the south high area overlooking the Missouri River. It was a low silica chert, great flutes, ground base and fluted area. I traded it to my brother for a fossil Oreodont Skull he found in western Nebraska. I like fossil vertebrates and he liked the Clovis.

Thousands of years from now, the steel knife blade you dropped will survive only with the weather resistant handle. The blade will have rusted away... unless it is fine steel and in a arid climate. So even we will be leaving plenty, especially the City Dump... artifacts for those to write about on THIS Forum... I suppose. Happy hunting and everything you find will be rediscovered some day by some youth playing in a field, thousands of years from today.