Paleoclimatology 101 - The Younger Dryas Climactic Event

Figure One - Paleoindians competing with scavenging American Lions for a bison carcass,
sometime around the Younger Dryas Climactic Event. Photo courtesy unknown.    

In my last article, I discussed the "Great Meltdown" when the ice sheets and glaciers of the Wisconsin Ice Age began to melt. The meltdown started around 17,000 years ago, and for a few thousand years, the glaciers and ice sheets slowly retreated northward. Then around 12,900 years ago, the climate in the higher latitudes of the northern Hemisphere reversed course and it became colder. European scientists have known about this cooling event since the mid-twentieth century and dubbed it the Younger Dryas after a flower that grows in Europe in colder climates (figure six). By the 1990s, scientists around the globe were studying the evidence and effects from the Younger Dryas Chronozone in their areas of interest (YDC).      

Not only did ice age conditions return during the YDC from 12,900 to 11,700 years ago, but there were two other key events occurring in North America within the same general time-frame. About the same time that the YDC began, Clovis Paleoindian weaponry disappeared and so did forty or so megafauna species in North America. I am referring to extinct Pleistocene mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, camels, musk ox, horses, short-faced bears, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and others. 

Was the occurrence of these three 'Megaevents' - the YDC, the disappearance of Clovis weaponry, and the extinction of megafauna species - a coincidence, or is this the proverbial smoking gun for something else that was going on? 

Scientists have kicked the tires on the YDC at a breakneck pace with an attitude of winner-take-all. So far, the occurrence or coincidence of these three events has led to more questions and speculation than answers from the scientific community. 

Figure Two - My eighth and ninth books. CLICK TO ORDER

Some investigators claimed that the YDC brought back the same icy conditions that were around during the Last Glacial Maximum (LCM). Based on what I have read, that seems unlikely. Archaeologists Meltzer and Bar-Yosef (2012) stated that the biggest impact from the YDC was at higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere. They noted that by the time the YDC showed up, the great North American ice sheets -  Cordilleran and Laurentide - were mere shadows of their awe-inspiring selves. The ice sheets had retreated into Canada and were greatly diminished in both areal extent and thickness. The two archaeologists noted that greenhouse gases - methane and carbon dioxide - had increased to interglacial levels during the YDC which helped moderate the cooling trend of the climate. 

Some scientists wrote that the YDC showed up fast or lickety split, but Meltzer and Bar-Yosef disagreed, reporting that the archaeological evidence indicated that the YDC was a gradual and time-transgressive event, happening at different times in different areas with different overall effects. They also suggested that there were vast areas in the world that were completely unaffected by the YDC. Figure three illustrates the warming and cooling trends of the planet over the past 18,000 years. Around 14,000 years BP, the Earth was on a warming trend when a cooling trend that led to the YDC showed up. This cooling trend lasted for approximately 1200 years.   

Meltzer (2009) reported that during the YDC, glaciers in North America temporarily stopped melting and that a few glaciers actually expanded. He suggested that the climate in the northern part of the United States was cooler and drier. Meltzer's research estimated that average temperatures in the northern part of the United States dropped approximately nine degrees Fahrenheit. The YDC was a time of high winds, blowing sand and silt across the northern plains and the midwest regions of the United States. He pointed out that while the northern United States was colder and drier, the southeastern and midcontinent regions of the United States were warmer and wetter.

Figure Three -  From The Intriguing Problem of the Younger Dryas - What 
Does It Mean and What Caused It? by Anthony Watts.

 

You might be asking yourself what triggered the YDC? In my first paleoclimatology article, I introduced my readers to the Milankovitch Theory of ice age creation. I explained that this orbital theory was based on the gravitational effects of planetary bodies which ultimatly caused variation in the geographic distribution of insolation or solar radiation. I refer you to that article for review. 

There are at least two theories bantered about by scientists for the cause of the Younger Dryas. The more traditional theory proposed that a massive periglacial lake called Lake Agassiz (figure four) sprung a leak in its ice dam when the Laurentide Ice Sheet was in retreat. The breach released a massive amount of freshwater down the St. Lawrence waterway and into the North Atlantic. The deluge of freshwater interrupted the flow of the North Atlantic thermocline and Gulf Stream, the deep, warm current of water flowing north from the tropics. The warm, salty water from the Gulf Stream is responsible for moderating the climate of countries along the North Atlantic, such as Canada, the U.K., Iceland, Greenland, and Norway. 

From our high school science class we remember that fresh water is less dense than seawater (2.5 % less dense). When Lake Agassiz's freshwater flooded the North Atlantic, it floated on top of the warm, salty seawater, much like oil floats on water. The layer of freshwater prevented the warm, salty seawater from mixing and reaching the surface of the ocean. Temperatures in the northern hemisphere were no longer regulated by the Gulf Stream and a portion of the North Atlantic Ocean froze. Once this polar front established its footing, the cold expanded outward from the North Atlantic. 

Detractors of this theory pointed out that the amount of freshwater needed to shut down the circulatory forces of the North Atlantic thermohaline and Gulf Stream for that long of a period was astronomical. The detractors also point out that there is no geologic evidence for a massive flood along the St. Lawrence waterway when the ice dam burst on Lake Agassiz. 

      

Figure Four - Courtesy of Nature Magazine, April 1, 2010. 

The second and more controversial theory about the YDC was based on an extraterrestrial event (Firestone et al 2006). Firestone and his colleagues believed that a comet struck the Laurentide Ice Sheet, melting and breaking off massive blocks of glacial ice which ended up in the North Atlantic Ocean. The freshwater and icebergs weakened North Atlantic thermohaline circulation, triggering  abrupt climate cooling (at this stage this theory is similar to the Lake Agassiz theory). Firestone and his colleagues proclaimed that their theory explained the Younger Dryas, and the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna, and the decline of post-Clovis human populations. The investigators based their theory on the presence of iridium, Helium-3, firestorms, hollow floating spherules, microscopic diamonds, and glasslike carbon in the Younger Dryas aged "carbon rich black layer" (the black mat) found in Clovis sites around North America. 

Detractors to the 'extraterrestrial theory' jumped on it quickly and decisively. They asked Firestone et al where the crater was, and where the remnants of the comet were? Firestone  shot back that the ice sheet buffered the impact from the comet (figure five), therefore no crater. Detractors remained unsold based on a lack of scientific and geologic evidence. Scientific interest in the 'extraterrestrial theory' has waned over the years, but that does not stop its advocates and detractors from debating the pros and cons of the theory.

Is the extraterrestrial theory possible? 

Anything is possible. What about the critics of the extraterrestrial theory, don't they have a case? Of course they have a case, but we must remember that it is inherent in human nature to be skeptical about anything "out of the box". Some of the same critics of the extraterrestrial theory still cling to the "Clovis First" theory even after overwhelming evidence of "Pre-Clovis" has smacked them in the face. 

Figure Five.

    What happened to human populations before and during the YDC? What happened to the Clovis prehistoric culture?

In Hunter-Gatherer Behavior - Human Response during the Younger Dryas, a publication edited by Metin I. Eren (2012), the authors found little evidence of the YDC affecting the lives and behaviors of prehistoric hunter-gatherers around the world. The researchers reported that based on evidence at archaeological sites around the globe, there was more evidence in the YDC for continuity than there was for change. 

In the summary of this same book, Meltzer and Yosef (2012) stated that the efforts to link the YDC to human cultural change was a reasonable endeavor, but that initial enthusiasm often outpaced the empirical evidence found. YDC was mostly a northern hemisphere phenomena, affected the higher latitudes and not much of the rest of the globe. For example in North America, the authors noted that the YDC climate varied from cold and dry to the north, to warm and wet or cold and wet elsewhere on the continent. The authors concluded that the climate changes of the YDC were not globally synchronous or severe, and that there was little archaeological evidence that the YDC impacted human populations enough to motivate cultural change. 

What is my personal opinion on this? 

The Younger Dryas event cooled off the continent. Humans adapted to this change in climate, just like we always have and we always will. Clovis disappeared, but other Paleoindian cultures such as Goshen and Folsom filled the void. Perhaps, they were the same people. The weaponry Clovis used to hunt mammoths evolved into weaponry better suited to a bison-based economy. The now extinct megafauna species met two threats: a changing climate and intense hunting pressure from humans. The extinct mammal species failed to adapt to the threats from the climate and human predators, and went away.

Figure Six - Scientists named the return to near-glacial the Younger Dryas, 

after a flower (Dryas octopetala) that grows in cold conditions 

and that became common in Europe during that time.

Erin, Metin I.  2012   On Younger Dryas Climate Change as a Causal Determinate of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Culture Change in Hunter-Gatherer Behavior - Human Response during the Younger Dryas, edited by Metin I. Eren. Left Coast Press. Walnut Creek.     

Firestone, Richard; West, Allen; Warwick-Smith, Simon   2006  The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes. Bear and Company. Rochester.    

Meltzer, David J.  2009  First Peoples in a New World - Colonizing Ice Age America. University of California Press. Berkeley.    

Meltzer, David J., and Ofer Bar-Yosef   2012  Looking for the Younger Dryas in Hunter-Gatherer Behavior - Human Response during the Younger Dryas, edited by Metin I. Eren. Left Coast Press. Walnut Creek.       

Who Dun It? Clovis, Folsom, or Something Else? Part IV

Figure One - 3.5-inch-long semi-translucent biface, a 
surface find from private land in south-central Wyoming.
John Bradford Branney Collection. 

There is a fair chance that the beautiful biface in Figure One is an ultrathin knife form from a Paleoindian prehistoric culture between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago. Why do I say fair chance and not more definitive? Because the late Jim Roth surface-found this artifact on private land in Carbon County, Wyoming, out of archaeological context. Since surface artifact hunters must be 'part detective' when it comes to identifying some artifacts, I will provide some evidence for a prehistoric culture I think it came from. But first, I want to explore a passage from my historical fiction book on Paleoindians titled GHOSTS of the HEART.

For those of you who have not read my popular prehistoric adventure series about the Folsom People, the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy, my main character, Chayton, and other hunters in his tribe carried ultrathin knife forms to filet meat from the prey animals they butchered. In this scene, Chayton and the hunters set up a trap and harvested a small herd of bison. I imagine hunting bison 12,600 years ago was an adventure in itself. Butchering the bison was probably even harder work.  

When it was all over, the tribe had killed twenty-two tatanka – bison. The meat from the herd would help the tribe through wani yetu – winter. One of the hunters ran to the camp to tell the people of the tribe. Before long, the entire tribe had returned to help butcher and carry the meat back to the camp. First, everyone in the tribe helped lay all of the carcasses on their bellies with legs sprawled. Then a team of two or three butchers worked on each carcass; while one person held and positioned the carcass, the other person chopped, sawed and cut. The team of butchers then cut the hide lengthwise down the back.  

They then pulled the hide to the ground on both sides of the carcass, creating a mat that would protect the butchered meat from the ground. The team of butchers extracted the tender cuts of meat under the skin of the back first, followed by the forelegs, shoulders, hump meat, rib cage, and body cavity. They would not waste anything. The team of butchers opened up each body cavity and removed the heart, liver, and gall bladder.  

With hammer stones, choppers, and stone knives, the butchers then harvested the hindquarters, hind legs, neck, and skull. As the team of butchers systematically stripped the meat from the carcasses, others carried the meat back to the camp where they cut it into strips and hung it from sagebrush and tree branches to dry. The Folsom People would make pemmican from the meat that was too tough to eat. They then extracted two more delicacies from the skull, the tongue, and the brain.  

Figure Two -  CLICK for INFO

Now that I gave you a taste of GHOSTS of the HEART, let's go back to the knife form in question. I believe that this knife form is definitely Paleoindian, either a Folsom ultrathin knife form or a Clovis ovate biface. 

Why? Let me explain my logic.

1. The dimensions of this knife form are: 88 mm long, 42 mm wide, and 5 mm thick, giving it a width-to-thickness ratio of 8.4, well within the arbitrary width-to-thickness ratio for ultrathin knife forms of 7 or greater. 

2. The raw material is wild: a beautiful semi-translucent, banded petrified wood.

 

Figure Three - 3.5-inch long biface surface found in Wyoming.
One edge along the biface was polished smooth, indicating to me
that the user handheld it. Note the diving flakes near the middle
of the biface. John Bradford Branney Collection.   

      Figure Four - Powars II red ocher
archaeological site in east  
central Wyoming. 

3. In several flake terminations, there appear to be oxidized iron deposits or staining, much like you would find when red ochre was applied. Ochre is a natural mineral containing ferric oxide. It is typically associated with clay and varies in color from light yellow to brown to red. Red ochre has been found in many different archaeological contexts, including Paleoindian occupation floors. Paleoindians sometimes painted their tools and projectile points with red ochre. Red ochre has also been associated with Paleoindian burials. Red ochre was widely used at Paleoindian levels at Powars II, Hanson, Hell Gap, Sheaman, and the Medicine Lodge Creek archaeological sites in Wyoming. Investigators discovered a grinding slab used for pulverizing red ochre nodules and rocks into powder at the Folsom level at the Agate Basin site in eastern Wyoming.

4. We know prehistoric people used different types of ochre for paint pigment, and we assume they used it for both functional and ritualistic reasons. Upper Paleolithic graves in Europe and at least one Clovis grave in the United States contained ochre. Ochre was used in the Magdalenian period in Europe as an ingredient in an adhesive to haft knife forms and projectile points to handles and foreshafts. Perhaps North American Paleoindians did the same and used red ochre as an adhesive for fastening projectile points and knives to spears and handles. We also know that red ochre preserves wood. That would explain the occurrence of red ochre in the hafting area of many Clovis projectile points. Some investigators also believe that Paleoindian flintknappers in North America might have used red ochre as an abrasive to polish and dull the lateral edges in the hafting areas of projectile points. Dulling the edges was a common practice in Paleoindian and Early Archaic times. We assume this dulling was done to prevent the sharp edges of the stone artifact from cutting the sinew lashings. Red ochre is also commonly found with Clovis tool caches, but we cannot be sure what purpose that served. 

5. It is not coincidental that the predominant colors used in rock art and cave art in the Old World and in some cases, New World, were black (from charcoal, soot, or manganese oxide), yellow ochre (limonite), red ochre (hematite or burned limonite) and white (kaolin clay, burnt shells, powdered gypsum, or powdered calcium carbonate). 

Figure Five - Clovis and Paleoindian biface thinning sequence. 
From The Agate Basin Site by George C Frison and Dennis J. Stanford.    

6. I love Paleoindian flintknapping, especially the biface thinning through percussion technology. The flaking on the artifact in figures one, three, and six screams out as Paleoindian origin. Paleoindians attacked a piece of flint with carefree but skilled abandon. The Paleoindian flintknapper's attitude must have been "why thin a biface with ten swings of a hammer when five swings accomplish the same goal?" Paleoindians thinned bifaces with wide, thin flakes that crossed the face of the biface, sometimes overshooting the opposite edge (see figure five). The end result was wide, thin, and long flakes that were exceptionally flat, which thinned the biface without losing overall length or width. On the artifact photographed in figures one, three, and six, several of these wide-thin-flat flakes terminate midway across the face of the biface, creating step or hinge terminations midway. These diving flakes created a biconcave cross-section for this knife form. Some of these diving flakes were met by diving flakes from the other side, creating an even more concave profile in the middle of the artifact.

Figure Six - Reverse side of a 3.5-inch long biface. Note diving flakes near 

the middle of the biface. John Bradford Branney Collection.    

Few knife forms or biface types are culturally diagnostic. It usually takes finding them in situ under controlled archaeological and geological conditions to determine age or cultural affiliation. This knife form was a surface find, but I propose it came from the Folsom or Clovis Paleoindian culture based on its production technology, knapping characteristics, and the presence of oxidized red ochre. But just because I think that does not necessarily make it so. 

Disclaimer: I have NOT had this knife 'officially' tested for the presence of red ochre, although several knowledgeable collectors and archaeologists have looked it over and concluded the same thing. My assumption that it is red ochre is from those opinions, my experience and research, and observation of the deposits under high magnification. 

So, what is your opinion? Is it a Clovis Ovate Biface
or a Folsom Ultrathin Knife or maybe something else altogether?   

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his soon-to-be-released blockbuster Beyond the Campfire, Branney catapults his readers back into Prehistoric America where they reunite with some familiar faces from Branney’s best-selling prehistoric adventure series the Shadows on the Trail Hexalogy.

John Bradford Branney holds a degree in geology from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado. John lives in the Colorado mountains with his wife, Theresa. Beyond the Campfire is the eleventh published book by Branney.

Folsom v. Clovis Technology - SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL



Figure One - Wide range of High Plains Folsom Points from Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The longest point is 1.9 inches long. John Bradford Branney Collection.  

Did you identify the above projectile points as Folsom?  

My five-book adventure series about North America and Paleoindians titled the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy began in what is called Texas and Colorado today. Ultimately, the latest book in the series, BEYOND the CAMPFIRE, ended up in the Black Hill of South Dakota and Wyoming. 

The books were written about a mysterious group of people we now call Folsom who lived on the Great Plains around twelve thousand six hundred or so years ago. There is no archaeological evidence that the Folsom Paleoindians used any kind of written language. Hence, they probably handed down their customs, processes, rituals, and folklore from generation to generation through word of mouth. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Folsom Paleoindian culture was a beautifully-crafted fluted projectile point that is arguably the finest projectile point type ever made in North America. One of the processes that the Folsom People passed on from generation to generation was the making of these fabulous fluted projectile points. Figure one is a photo of a few examples of Folsom points from my personal collection. Even with the variation in shape, size, material, and quality, most people familiar with artifacts would identify them as Folsom projectile points. 



Figure Two - The third book in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy.
CLICK for JOHN BRADFORD BRANNEY BOOKS 

In the third book of the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy titled WINDS of EDEN, I wrote about how I thought the Folsom People passed along their flint knapping processes  In the passage below, a tribal elder teaches children how to make these wonderful fluted projectile points. School is now in session!

The old man picked up a square of tatanka – bison hide. He placed it on top of his left thigh. He then picked up the flat rock and placed it on top of the bison hide. He then placed another square of bison hide over the top of the flat rock. The old man picked up an unfinished spear point and the antler punch. The three boys watched, never taking their eyes off the old man’s skilled hands. The old man then adjusted the flat rock so it was on the inside of his left thigh. He pushed the tip of the unfinished spear point against the flat rock and lined up the antler punch against the tiny knob on the base of the spear point. When the old man was satisfied with the positioning of the spear point, he placed the other end of the antler punch against his right thigh.

Since the elder was teaching the children a relatively complex process (rarely duplicated with success even today), we would expect to find errors and variations in the children's final product. Twelve thousand years later, you or I might find one of the children's Folsom points and wonder why all Folsom points weren't created equal. In general, Folsom projectile points exhibit three critical characteristics; 1). fluting, 2). thinness, and 3). micro pressure retouch along the edges. You can see these characteristics in all of the Folsom points in figure one. 

Figure Three - More Folsom points from my collection. 

I am switching gears now, to an earlier group of Paleoindians before Folsom. These Paleoindians were associated with what we call the Clovis Complex.

Ever since the discovery of the famous Folsom, Clovis, and Plainview sites in the early part of the twentieth century, there has been an ongoing effort to identify and categorize all Paleoindian projectile points into specific projectile point type buckets. Before the discovery of the above sites, archaeologists and collectors lumped most finely-made western Paleoindian projectile points into a broad category called Yuma, named after the town in Colorado where collectors were finding these artifacts in sand blowouts during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. 

One Paleoindian projectile point type with a broad geographical range in North America was named Clovis after the insitu discovery near the town by the same name in New Mexico. Today, collectors and archaeologists find Clovis-styled points in forty-eight states, Canada, and Mexico. Clovis projectile points are normally fluted, just like Folsom, but the flutes on Clovis are shorter and angled outward from the base (see figure four which demonstrates typical fluting angle differences - "a" in the diagram is Folsom and "b" is Clovis). In addition, Clovis projectile points exhibit less intricate pressure flaking and retouch than the average Folsom projectile point. Just like Folsom, Clovis projectile points show a broad range in dimensions, form, and material.

Figure Four - One way to differentiate 

between Folsom and Clovis. Folsom fluting 

is parallel to the biface plane (flat) while 

Clovis is diagonal to the biface plan (angled). 

Credit unknown.    

There are several plausible explanations for the variation in Clovis projectile points. First of all, Clovis flint knappers did not work from blueprints like modern-day manufacturing workers do. Clovis projectile points did not have written specifications, and all Clovis flint knappers were not created equal. For that matter, no Paleoindian flint knapper had exactly the same skills and experience as their peers! People with different levels of skill, experience, and creativity created Clovis projectile points! Last but not least, Clovis and other Paleoindian flint knappers dealt with a wide range of raw materials with different mechanical properties and quality. For example, chalcedony knaps differently than silicified sandstone which knaps differently than obsidian. Some raw material was just better for flint knapping than other materials, resulting in a wide range of quality and form between different projectile points. 

We can and should expect variation in quality, dimensions, and sizes for Clovis and Folsom projectile points!

  

We see variations in Clovis-styled fluted projectile points across the different regions in North America. The variation in size, shape, manufacturing process and material has led to many debates about whether or not these regional variants of Clovis-styled fluted projectile are actually Clovis points and fit under the umbrella of the Clovis Paleoindian culture that swept across North America. Some analysts argue that these regional Clovis-styled fluted projectile points prove by their chronological and morphological differences that they did not come from a single Clovis culture while others argue that these Clovis-styled fluted projectile points are just regional variations of a common Clovis theme at a slightly different time and place.

If these Clovis-styled fluted projectile points did come from one common Clovis culture, the variation might be explained by a process called 'drift". Drift occurs when we see the changing of a standard through time within groups of people who share the same cultural ancestry. Drift can occur in any given culture and can happen for a variety of reasons such as isolation of a population or innovation within a specific population or the evolving needs in a changing environment. As an example of the last item; when mammoths and mastodons became scarce or were absent, Clovis people might have adapted their weaponry to hunt different animals. We should expect a change in their projectile point style going from hunting mammoths as a mainstay to hunting bison or smaller mammals. In figure five below I show three different Clovis-styled variants from the eastern United States. Did these precede or follow Clovis? These three eastern types carry a bunch of Clovis characteristics. 

Figure Five - Clovis-style regional variants from eastern U.S. (Haynes 2002) Were these made by the same Clovis culture discovered in the west or different cultures that copied the fluting technology?   

Figure six represents a few Clovis projectile points from my high plains Clovis collection. You can see by the photo that even though these Clovis points were surface finds from the same region, they have quite a bit of variation. Even with the differences in form, fluting length, and flaking patterns, they are still Clovis points. In the caption below figure six, I identified the variants from other regions of North America that my high plains points resemble. As an example, the first point in my photograph is a Clovis projectile point that was surface found in northern New Mexico. It resembles the Gainey projectile point from the Great Lakes region in figure five. 

The photo in figure seven shows Clovis-styled fluted projectile points from the east coast of the United States and Canada. These Clovis-styled fluted projectile points are not typed as Clovis, even though they have similar characteristics to my Colorado Clovis point in figure six, second from the right.   

Figure Six - High Plains Clovis points demonstrate the wide range of variability. From left to right; New Mexico Clovis, Gainey variety; Nebraska Clovis, Colby variety, Montana Clovis, western variety; Colorado Clovis, Hazel Variety, Colorado Clovis, eastern variety; Colorado Clovis, Barnes Variety. The longest point is 3.8 inches long.
John Bradford Branney Collection.       

The bottom line is that there are a variety of reasons that a single point type such as Clovis shows variation between different projectile points within the type. That does not mean that these regional variants were not part of the Clovis Paleoindian culture that overtook North America for a few hundred years around 13,000 years ago.  

Figure Seven - Clovis-style points from Nova Scotia, New York, and Main.
(Haynes 2002) Boy, they sure look like my Colorado Clovis
above (fifth point).   

I am going to say goodbye for now and return to WINDS OF EDEN to see what happened between the elder and the children. School is back in session.      

The old man motioned for his two young grandchildren to sit down in front of him, close enough to see, but far enough away to avoid flying pieces of sharp rock. The old man readjusted the flat rock with the tip of the spear point. He then carefully positioned the groove in the antler punch with the tiny knob at the base of the spear point. When everything was to his liking, the old man picked up the heavy antler hammer and took a couple of practice swings in the air. The old man then held the antler hammer above the antler punch and swung down with enough force to transfer energy from the antler punch through the rock. The rock popped loudly and when the old man lifted up the spear point for the children to see, a flute or groove ran longitudinally up the entire length of the spear point. The children laughed as if it they had just witnessed great magic. Their eyes were as big as the moon as they looked around at each other. The old man gazed around at the children, smiling. The old man was proud of the flute in the spear point and relieved that he could still do it. However, what made him the happiest was passing down the fluting tradition to the next generation of the tribe.

2002    Haynes, Gary. The Early Settlement of North America - The Clovis Era. University             Press. Cambridge.  

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster novel BEYOND the CAMPFIRE  Branney places his readers smack dab into the middle of the late Pleistocene along the high plains of North America. BEYOND the CAMPFIRE is Branney's eleventh book.  

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado.