Study Finds 3,000-Year Gap in Clovis Atlatl Use, Challenging 66-Date Hunting Theory
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Jun 29
Study Finds 3,000-Year Gap in Clovis Atlatl Use, Challenging 66-Date Hunting Theory
3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Jun 29
Summary
A new PNAS study says Clovis hunters cannot be assumed to have primarily used atlatls, finding no direct archaeological evidence and estimating the weapon’s earliest American appearance at about 9,996 years ago.
Using 66 radiocarbon-dated atlatl or dart specimens, researchers modeled the technology’s arrival in the Americas and found it likely emerged roughly 3,000 years after the Clovis period.
Metin I. Eren said no Clovis atlatl has ever been found, undermining a long-standing view that the earliest Americans brought the technology from Asia into North America.
The paper instead raises the possibility that American atlatl technology evolved independently, though outside archaeologist Justin Pargeter said preservation gaps mean the results do not definitively rule out Clovis use.
Rather than disproving atlatls outright, the study argues archaeologists should stop treating Clovis atlatl use as settled fact and more seriously weigh spears, javelins and bows.