North American Clovis Point Form and Performance IV: An Experimental Assessment of Knife Edge Effectiveness and Wear

ABSTRACT

This study is an assessment of Clovis knife edge effectiveness and wear. This work is the fourth contribution in a series of experiments aimed at shedding light on the functional performance of distinct Clovis “point” forms. Here, we used both edges from 14 replica Clovis point forms in a wood slicing task: the first seven forms represent the average and extremes of observed Clovis points; the second seven represent length-standardized versions. Correlations of point form and cutting efficiency suggest that beyond the largest Clovis point form from the Simon cache, Clovis point plan-view form does not influence edge effectiveness. And a blind qualitative microwear analysis suggests that Clovis point form does not appear to effect edge wear. Unlike our previously reported experiments, the results presented here are predominately inconsistent with the hypothesis that selection of functional attributes contributed to Clovis point variability and evolution across North America.

KEYWORDS:

• Clovis
• experimental archeology
• cutting
• microwear
• efficiency

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Craig Ratzat of Neolithics (www.neolithics.com) and Bob and Cheryl Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl (www.thunderbirdatlatl.com) for their tireless efforts in producing the specimens used in this experiment. We would also like to thank the anonymous butcher who participated in the experiment. Grant McCall and the two reviewers provided excellent comments that improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data available statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Notes

1 While our replica knives and knife edges were created via lapidary equipment and a single knapper – providing a level of control to the tool production and thus experimental cutting – we cannot say precisely (i.e. quantitatively) whether the edges of different knife forms are statistically identical. One anonymous reviewer of this manuscript correctly pointed out that quantitatively recording knife edge angle, edge profile, or other edge variables that could potentially influence cutting would have demonstrated the edges were similar. Unfortunately, given the controlled tool production procedure, we took edge similarity for granted and did not record such variables. Thus, while we feel it is reasonable to suggest that the knife edges in the present experiment are likely similar on a gross-scale, we nonetheless acknowledge that individual finer-scale edge variables should be considered uncontrolled in the experiment.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award IDs: 1649395, 1649406, 1649409). M.I.E. and M.R.B. are supported by the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences.