Evidence for Late Paleoindian Scavenging of Early Paleoindian Obsidian, Oklahoma Panhandle

ABSTRACT

An obsidian channel flake from the Late Paleoindian-aged Bull Creek camp (Oklahoma panhandle), analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, was determined to have been manufactured from obsidian of the Polvadera Peak chemical type in the Jemez Mountain region of north central New Mexico. Although Polvadera Peak is the primary source of the obsidian, the discovery of the channel flake within Late Paleoindian-aged deposits suggests the object was collected from a secondary exposure, in this case a Clovis or Folsom camp of unknown location.

KEYWORDS:

• Late Paleoindian
• obsidian
• channel flake
• Bull Creek
• heritage landscape

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and for the guidance of Ted Goebel, editor of PaleoAmerica.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded in part by generous donations from Harold Courson, Courson Oil and Gas, Perryton, Texas; Anne Irvin, Firefly Distillery, Wadmala Island, South Carolina; Department of Anthropology, Augustana University, and Oklahoma Archeological Survey, The University of Oklahoma.