The Pre-Clovis Culture Debate

“Which Came First?”: The Importance of the Pre-Clovis vs. Clovis Culture Debate

The main questions I hope to answer in this paper are why the Pre-Clovis and Clovis cultures matter, and how does one existing before the other affect today’s indigenous population, as well as the environment? By looking at the debate that was unearthed when pre-Clovis artifacts were first found, and by researching the reasons scientists have for believing either of the two theories, I am going to resolve the issue, and look at how that conclusion has an effect on today’s life. The primary sources for this information are mainly the reports of findings from archaeological digs and the dating of artifacts found, such as human coprolites and spear points. Some
The first part will be the background of each culture, including the most popular hypotheses that separate each side of the debate, and the hypotheses for how each culture made it over to the America’s in the first place. Then I will analyze each culture on its own by looking at the archaeological findings and identify why Clovis supporters feel that certain information found on pre-Clovis sites is invalid. Based on the information given, I will then conclude if the pre-Clovis culture has enough evidence to support it, and if it does, what this means for us today. If it does not hold up to factual standards, I will look at what archaeologists need to discover in order for the culture to become widely accepted. However, there is a general softening to the idea that there was a people here before Clovis, and I think it would help to look at the reasons for that as well. I will analyze how the conclusion affects our society today, and how the indigenous population is viewed, along with the environmental impact. I may also devote a section to compare and contrast of certain elements of artifacts such as spear points, which are said to have differing styles depending on what they were used
The debate has been going on since the first evidence of pre-Clovis was discovered in the 1970’s, and while at first the Clovis first supporters were able to easily deny Pre-Clovis existence, they had a difficult time challenging it once more archaeological sites began to reveal human presence surpassing 13,500 years ago. They then had to dig deeper to support the Clovis first which resulted in quite a bit of analysis on the validity of the archaeological excavations of pre-Clovis sites. What the secondary sources do not always bring up is how the existence of Pre-Clovis would affect the current indigenous population today. If there were people before Clovis than it could be possible to trace how they evolved over time and what happened when the Clovis people entered the picture, if there were still leftovers from the first wave of people. This could change the origins of the indigenous people, or at least change the way they evolved over time into the societies that were here when first contact was made. Another issue that only a few sources touch on is possible environmental impact, but they are also lacking in how the environment may have affected these people, especially on the East Coast. If the pre-Clovis people died out, then maybe it had something to do with the environment and their inability to adapt to