In the Groove with a Midland Projectile Point

Figure One - Side A of 1.8-inch-long Midland dart or spear point showing the remnant of an
impact fracture that put the projectile point out of service until the user hastily repaired the tip.  

Ronny Walker surface rescued the 1.8-inch-long Midland dart or spear point in Figure One from a cotton field in Lynn County, Texas. I acquired this Midland point not for its beauty, even though I think it is beauty, but for its character. This projectile point saw a lot of action in its time, and if it could talk, I imagine it would have a pretty interesting story. Side A of the projectile point in Figure One clearly shows part of the impact fracture that damaged the projectile point's tip. The Paleoindian then repaired the projectile point and did a pretty sloppy job with the new tip.      

Midland projectile points exhibit wide, relatively flat flake scars that produce very flat cross sections. In outline, Midland projectile points resemble Folsom projectile points but are missing the flutes. Collectors and archaeologists often find Midland projectile points associated with Folsom projectile points leading some investigators to call Midland projectile points, unfluted Folsom projectile points. There are a few investigators who believe Midland projectile points and associated artifacts deserve their own cultural designation. Midland projectile points fall within the age range of the Folsom Complex, at around 12,900 to 12,200 years old. In my opinion, the same people made Folsom and Midland projectile points.    

Before this projectile point ended up in my collection, it belonged to Ronny Walker, Tim Elkins, Ed Rowe, Ron Van Heukelom, and Rodney Michel. Dwain Rogers, Bill Jackson, and Rodney Michel certified this projectile point as an authentic Midland projectile point.    

Now, I am going to take you on a quick journey back in time to get you in the groove for further analysis of the Midland projectile point. I am setting the dial on my time machine to 10,600 B.C. We will be going on a High Plains elk hunt with a Paleoindian named Chayton. This hunting excerpt is from the first book in my prehistoric saga titled SHADOWS on the TRAIL.         

Two majestic elk, a young bull and a cow, walked out from behind the trees, heading straight at Chayton. The bull led the way while the cow followed behind. The elk held their heads high and sniffed at the air, smelling for any danger that would set them off running. The elk, upwind from Chayton, did not pick up his scent and kept walking towards him.

Chayton’s left throwing arm was cocked and ready to throw the first spear, but the bull was still walking straight at him. Chayton did not like his chances for a kill with this throw. The bull had no vital organs exposed to Chayton’s line of fire and unless Chayton threw perfectly and severed an artery, the elk would not go down. The last thing Chayton wanted to do was track a wounded elk in this rugged country.

Figure Two - Reconstruction of the SHADOWS on the TRAIL scenario
with Chayton armed with a spear thrower and spear. However, this 
particular drawing is of two caribou bulls and not a bull and cow elk.

Chayton needed the elk to turn and expose its side to his spear. Chayton thought about moving, but one sound and he would send the elk crashing through the trees in the opposite direction. The elk continued to walk straight toward Chayton. Any closer and they would pick up Chayton’s scent.

Chayton searched the ground with his right hand and found a small rock. While his left arm kept his spear ready to throw, he hurled the rock to his right where it ricocheted off a tree. The bull reared back and ran away from the sound, exposing the left side to Chayton's spear. Chayton hurled the spear and the sharp fluted spear point popped when it penetrated the bull’s rib cage. The bull continued to run to the left while Chayton readied another spear. The confused cow ran away from Chayton, crashing through the trees that led back up the bluff. Chayton grabbed the rest of his spears and followed the blood spoor left by the bull.

Figure Three -  CLICK for SHADOWS on the TRAIL

When Chayton's spear smashed into the rib cage of the bull elk, the stone tip of the thin projectile point was most likely damaged and fractured, much like the Midland projectile point that I photographed in Figure One and in later figures in the article. 

Most prehistoric projectile points that I discover on the surface of the ground in the field are damaged in one way or another. On most of the prehistoric projectile points that I find, the damage appears to come from modern-day sources such as cows, plows, or earth-moving equipment. Most of the time the modern-day damage is obvious because of fresh breaks or fractures on the projectile point. However, there are a few projectile points where it is obvious that the damage happened in prehistoric times. The Midland projectile point is one of the latter.  

I seldom find pristine, undamaged stone projectile points. In my earlier artifact hunting days, I used to calculate in my head the ratio of "ninety percent or better complete" projectile points to total projectile point pieces found. I estimated that on average that ratio was somewhere between five and ten percent. That meant for every twenty projectile points, only one or two were "ninety percent or better complete". With each passing year, I am finding fewer total artifacts, and undamaged projectile points are even rarer than they were before. It was much easier to find prehistoric artifacts forty years ago than it is today. As I often remind myself when I am hunting, "Prehistoric artifacts are not a renewable resource."  

Fortunately, I am as interested in broken projectile points as I am in complete projectile points. I love doing what I call "autopsies" on damaged stone projectile points and speculating on how that projectile point ended up in the condition I found it. Please do not get me wrong, I would much rather find unblemished, perfect projectile points, but in today's world, damaged projectile points are the rule and not the exception. A person has to deal with the cards they were dealt.  

The root-beer-colored, semi-translucent Midland point in the figures is quite thin, and the Paleoindian who made the projectile point ground and polished the edges halfway up to the repaired tip (the red dots in Figure Four indicate where the projectile point was ground or polished). The repaired tip is not as noticeable on Side B in Figure Four as it is on Side A in Figure One, but the repaired tip still looks asymmetrical and hastily done and does not meet the same workmanship standards as the rest of the projectile point. 

Figure Four - Side B of the Midland dart showing much of
the original flaking. The repaired tip is evident, but the 
impact fracture is on the other face.     

Most Paleoindian flintknappers ground or polished the edges of their projectile points to ensure the razor-sharp rock did not slice through and damage the animal sinew they used to bind the projectile point onto a spear or dart foreshaft. In studying hundreds of projectile points, it is my experience that when Paleoindians ground or polished the basal edges, they did so for at least one-third to one-quarter of the total length of a freshly made projectile point. When those Paleoindians resharpened their projectile points, the ground or polished edge length increased as a percentage of the total projectile point length. Based on that, I am guessing that the original, undamaged Midland projectile point in Figures One and Four was quite a bit longer prior to the tip damage that occurred.  

This Midland projectile point from Texas saw some action, hunting or otherwise. Something happened to damage the distal end or tip of the projectile point. Perhaps, the projectile point slammed into a bison bone or a rock or something hard enough to shatter the original tip and one edge. The Paleoindian then hastily repaired the tip of the projectile point. Figure Five shows another view of the impact fracture at the tip. Based on the direction of the compression rings, the red arrow indicates the direction that the impact came from. The collision fractured the tip of the projectile point and the fissure advanced through the projectile point like a wave moving through water. Compression rings radiate away from the direction of impact much like ripples on a calm lake after a rock splashes in the water. The fissure began at the tip of the projectile point and traveled through the rock until its energy was dissipated or escaped out of the sides of the rock.  

Figure Five - Side A showing the impact fracture at the tip and the direction
that the force came from that damaged the tip.   

Impact with something hard caused the compression rings and ripples on the damaged tip. Oftentimes, the greater the impact or disturbance, the more severe the ripples and undulations are. Choppy ripples on a Folsom flute or even on an impact fracture indicate erratic bending forces in the rock at the time the fracture was initiated. The amplitude and frequency of the ripples are a rough measure of the amount of energy at the time of fracturing. Of course, flaws or inconsistencies in the raw material can also enhance ripples, but in the case of our Midland point, the ripples came from a front-end collision with a tough material.  

Figure Six - "B" marks the transverse break along the edge.  

The Midland projectile point has more damage from the collision than just the impact fracture. In Figure Six, I labeled a section along the projectile point edge with a "B". That "B" represents a transverse break or burin-like feature that I am convinced was the result of the projectile point's collision.  What is a burin and burination? 

Burination is a process used by prehistoric people to intentionally remove a small, relatively thick flake from another flake, blade, or biface using a snapped termination or a previous burination scar as the striking platform. Burin flakes or spalls run along an edge, rather than on the surface of the artifact's face. The scar left by the removal of the edge often intersects the artifact's face at a right angle, leaving a strong, but sharp edge for scraping or grooving hard materials. 

In the case of the Midland projectile point, I believe the burin-like feature along the edge was a transverse break caused by the same collision that created the impact fracture. Caution is always necessary when differentiating between an impact fracture, a transverse break, or an intentionally-crafted burin. However, on this Midland projectile point, the burin-like feature was not intentional, in my opinion, it was accidental.   

       

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 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 Pentalogy.

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree 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.

 

Clovis Ovate Biface and the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy

Figure One - An obsidian ovate biface probably made by
Paleoindians, most likely from the Clovis Complex.
Found on private land in Oregon in the 1960s.
John Bradford Branney Collection.   

One of the more controversial subjects to discuss today is climate change. I have no doubt that climate change is occurring today. The climate has never been stable in the history of this great planet! Climate change on Earth occurred one hundred years ago and one thousand years ago and one million years ago, and one billion years ago. Climate change is an ongoing process, it is going to happen with or without human help. The geological record of ole Mother Earth is loaded with examples of climate change. In Earth's prehistory and history, climate change is the rule, not the exception.   

One of the main themes in my original historical fiction novel titled SHADOWS on the TRAIL was that climate change was occurring around 12,500 years ago during the climate event we call the Younger Dryas. The changes in environmental conditions forced my characters from the Folsom prehistoric complex to abandon their canyon home where they had lived for close to a generation. SHADOWS on the TRAIL took the Folsom people on an adventure to a place called the North Country. It was their intent to find a place 'where the deer and the antelope play, and seldom is heard a discouraging word', and they could live in peace and harmony(a nirvana many of us still seek today).  

Figure Two - The inspiration for the SHADOWS on the TRAIL, a 4.1 inch long
discoidal biface made from Alibates agatized dolomite from the Panhandle of
Texas and surface found on private land in Northern Colorado.
This rock took a heck of a journey.  
John Bradford Branney Collection.

Below is a brief passage from my book SHADOWS on the TRAIL. In this passage, our hero Chayton is preparing to leave the canyon with his tribe, some 12,500 years ago. Since Chayton and the Folsom People really did not know what to expect on the journey, he visited a prehistoric quarry to mine raw material to take on the journey. Chayton actually visited the prehistoric quarry where prehistoric peoples mined Alibates agatized dolomite. In my book, the artifact in figure two left the prehistoric rock quarry with Chayton and ended up in northern Colorado where I picked it up. 

Here is that passage. See you on the other side.     

The elders selected three young hunters to be scouts for the journey. Chayton was one of the young hunters selected. He took his new role seriously. He prepared by visiting the rock quarry where he dug for the sacred red and white stone. Form the rock, he would make weapons and tools on the journey. The tribe could not rely on finding inyan wakan or sacred stone on the journey. He would take his own. Chayton walked deep into the canyon and found a pile of rubble where other humans had dug a deep hole in search of the precious inyan wakan. In the sweltering heat of the canyon, Chayton scraped through the rubble pile  in search of a few large pieces that the other humans missed. Once he found likely candidates, he took a large round river cobble from his pouch and hammered each large piece of sacred stone until it broke into smaller pieces. When he found a rock he liked, he used his river cobble and a soft hammer made from elk antler to shape the piece into a flat disc-shaped stone just a little bit larger than Chayton’s open hand. He continued the process until he had five disc-shaped rocks made from the sacred stone. Chayton would use these five sacred stones on the journey as a portable rock supply so that he could make blades, tools and spear tips on the spot. 

Chayton was preparing for a rainy day, and based on archaeological evidence this was a common tactic for Paleoindians. There are numerous examples of prehistoric people hoarding or caching non-localized raw material for stone tools. Since many of these prehistoric people lived a nomadic existence, they could not afford to arrive in a region and not be able to find raw material for making stone tools. They alleviated this problem by carrying some raw material with them.  

Figure Three - 6-inch long, thin Clovis preform/knife form dozed up near Sierra Blanca, Texas in the 1950s while building Interstate 10. John Bradford Branney Collection.  

One of the earliest examples of hoarding and caching of the raw material came from the Clovis Paleoindian culture, those hardy individuals who archaeologists for decades considered the First Americans. The Clovis People carried preforms and platters with them when they explored new areas. Preforms were not stone tools as such but were resources of raw material which could be transformed into the desired tool or implement on the spot. One of these preforms, which I suspect came from the Clovis People, is in figures one and four. Literature calls this particular type of preform an ovate biface. In the upcoming paragraphs, I plan on borrowing from a tremendous book by Michael R. Waters and Thomas A. Jennings entitled The Hogeye Clovis Cache, published in 2015 by Texas A & M.  

Figure Four - 6.3-inch long ovate biface of probable Clovis

Complex origin. Found on private land in the 1960s in Oregon.

John Bradford Branney Collection.

      

Why do I believe that this particular preform in figures one and four originated from the Clovis People? First, this type of biface has a well-documented association with the Clovis prehistoric culture (the Hogeye Clovis Cache is one example, there are several others). Some people refer to this artifact as a 'Clovis platter', but morphologically I believe it is best described as an ovate biface, distinguished by its oval shape with knapping on both sides. Ovate bifaces had no clear base or tip. They served Clovis People as flake cores or knife preforms. If the Clovis knapper needed a knife form, he or she sharpened the edges. If the Clovis knapper needed blades or scrapers for butchering, he or she could remove flakes from the mother rock. Regardless of their ultimate use, ovate bifaces and/or platters were a source of raw material for these early explorers.

I draw your attention to figure four. Note the wide, long, and shallow flakes running across the face of this prehistoric artifact. This flaking pattern is another Clovis knapping trait. Ovate bifaces were thinned by overshot and over the face flaking using both alternate-opposed and serial flaking (figure five). 

Figure Five - from The Agate Basin Site by George C. Frison and Dennis 
J. Stanford, page 203.    

For the ovate biface in figures one and four, the Paleoindian knapper used the alternate-opposed flaking method, a sequential method whereby the repeated removal of an overshot or over the face flake from one edge is followed by a similar removal from the opposite edge on the same face. This was a common flaking practice within the Clovis prehistoric culture.  

In figure six, I am demonstrating to the reader my theory on how bifacial reduction or the lifecycle of a Clovis ovate biface or platter occurred. Please disregard the different materials of the four artifacts and pretend the four artifacts are the same artifact and this represents this artifact's lifecycle from ovate biface on the left to Clovis spear point on the right. 

Figure Five - Bifacial reduction from left to right, from the
original 6.3 inch long ovate biface on the left to a Clovis spear point
on the right. John Bradford Branney Collection.  

Our Paleoindian knapper created the ovate biface on the left, perhaps at a prehistoric rock quarry. As time went on, the knapper whittled away at the ovate biface when he needed raw material for stone tools or the ovate biface needed sharpened. This reduced the overall size of the ovate biface (second from left). At some stage, the Clovis knapper created a spear or knife preform from his ovate biface (third from left). After more time passed, the knapper whittled the preform down into a knife or a spear point (far right). Eventually, the knife or spear point on the far right was reduced in size through sharpening until it was was eventually abandoned, lost or broken. I imagine that the process from left to right in figure five took anywhere from weeks to a year or so. Who knows for sure?

I hope you enjoyed our trip through time. You can join me on another trip through time in my prehistoric book adventure the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy.     

CLICK to ORDERSHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy for the rest of the story. Available at Amazon.com and other fine booksellers.

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Tough Enough to be a Paleoindian? READ and SEE

Third Edition 

Figure One - 4.1 inch long discoidal biface or core stone which was

the inspiration for the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy.  

One of the goals when I wrote my prehistoric adventure book series the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy was to squelch the myth that Paleoindians in North America were cavemen who lacked intelligence and were one step removed from chimpanzees. North American Paleoindians had the same intelligence level and foresight that we have, maybe more. They might have trouble passing an SAT to get into Stanford, but they knew how to survive without the modern conveniences that us 'snowflakes' seem to not be able to live without. I doubt that few people alive today could survive the rigors of North America thirteen thousand years ago. 

How well could you survive without your house, doctors, medications, smart phones, cars, television, grocery stores, fast food outlets, internet, social media, and law and order? How well would you do facing a small-faced bear or a mountain lion or an American lion armed with a spear? 

Figure Two - GHOSTS OF THE HEART, the second book in the
SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy. Available at Amazon.com 

How tough were the Paleoindians? 

Archaeological evidence demonstrates they were quite tough. I emphasized this in my books.

The excerpt below in blue is from my book GHOSTS OF THE HEART. In this specific passage, a Paleoindian named Kangi was confronted by something much larger and meaner than himself. 

How would you deal with this encounter? 

……….Squatting alongside the game trail was a grizzly bear cub, about the size of a small wolf dog. With his heart racing in his chest, Kangi glanced across the meadow, looking for the location of the mother. Instead he spotted another grizzly bear cub running straight toward him, making woofing and snorting sounds. 

Then the bear cub that was squatted on the game trail finally noticed Kangi and it rolled over onto its feet and immediately began bawling loudly. Kangi turned around quickly towards the tunnel, hoping to make a quick escape, but he ran right into the first hunter coming out. 

“A-ah! – Watch out!” Kangi screamed. “Mato! - Bear!”

The hunter appeared confused when Kangi shoved him back into the pine branch tunnel. 

“HOPPO! – LET US GO!” Kangi yelled, shoving the hunter into the tunnel. 

Coming to her cub’s rescue, the grizzly bear sow lunged through the water of the mountain stream, leaving a massive wake behind her. She was across the stream in two lunges and barreled across the meadow at full speed. With her head held low, she grunted loudly as her thick body shimmered and swayed. She closed the gap to Kangi with astonishing speed.

Kangi shoved the hunter into the deceptive safety of the tunnel, but there was still no room for him. Kangi turned to face the grizzly bear sow instead. He placed the butt of a spear into his spear thrower and raised the spear above his shoulder. He reared back his arm and with his entire body, he launched the spear at the charging bear. The spear left the spear thrower with tremendous speed, its trajectory heading straight at the massive grizzly bear sow’s skull. By the time the spear arrived at the grizzly bear sow, she had traveled much closer to Kangi. The spear flew harmlessly over her back, ricocheting off the rocks of the mountain stream. Kangi was just notching another spear when the humongous grizzly bear slammed into him, knocking him a good distance across the meadow where he landed hard on his stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, Kangi attempted to crawl away, but before he got very far, the grizzly bear landed on top of him with her front paws. 

“MATO! MATO!” the hunters screamed at each other in the tunnel, pushing and shoving each other back down the game trail. Chayton held his ground until the frightened hunters, heading in the opposite direction, plowed right over him. 

The grizzly bear sow pounced up and down on top of Kangi’s back, driving him into the soil of the meadow………..

Figure Three - The proposed burial orientation of Kennewick
Man along the Columbia River in Washington.  

Did Kangi survive? Read GHOSTS OF THE HEART to find out. Living in Prehistoric America was not for the weak or timid. Some of the best archaeological evidence to determine the lifestyle of prehistoric man are skeletons. Since skeletons are made up of perishable bone, they are rare to find, especially the old skeletons of Paleoindian or Archaic people.  

One of the more famous and controversial prehistoric skeletons is Kennewick Man. Renowned forensic scientists, Douglas W. Owsley and Richard J. Lantz, studied his skeleton and documented Kennewick Man's controversial history in an excellent book entitled KENNEWICK MAN The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton. Much of the information below came from this landmark study. I recommend you read this book, immediately after you read GHOSTS OF THE HEART. 

Let me introduce you to nine thousand year old Kennewick Man through the facial reconstruction in Figure Four. He came later than the Folsom 

Figure Four - Forensic reconstruction
of Kennewick Man's face.  

People in my SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy by about three thousand years, but as an early Archaic hunter and gatherer, he had the same lifestyle as the Paleoindian Folsom People. 

Two college students discovered Kennewick Man's skull in 1996 along the banks of the Columbia River in Washington. Scientists believe he was between 35 to 39 years old at the time of his death. They estimated that he was 5’7” or 5’8” tall and weighed around 162 lbs. 

Thirty-five years old is young compared to modern-day life expectancy, but Kennewick Man had already experienced some pretty traumatic health issues by the time he died. The scientists found that he had several healed depression wounds in his skull and may have been hard of hearing. Kennewick Man was right handed and there were indications that his arms had gone through strenuous use.

Figure Five - Throwing a spear dozens of times per day
for years using an atlatl would damage anyone's shoulder.  

The scientists found that while Kennewick Man’s left shoulder had normal morphology, his right shoulder and throwing arm exhibited degenerative wear and tear, arthritis, possible cartilage erosion, and a rim fracture of his right scapula. Since Kennewick Man’s survival depended on throwing spears at prey animals, we would expect some shoulder wear and tear, just as we would expect it from a major league baseball pitcher or a NFL quarterback.

Figure Six - Kennewick Man's teeth
were wore down to a nub. 

In addition, Kennewick Man’s upper arms were asymmetrical in both size and shape. The scientists determined that Kennewick Man had atrophy of his left humerus with bowing to the right side. The scientists postulated that a left arm fracture in his earlier life caused the condition. Of course, 'Kennewick Boy' did not have a doctor to consult with for his arm fracture. His arm healed the best it could on its own.    

Kennewick Man’s teeth were in bad shape for any age of man. Check out the photos in figure six and compare his tooth wear with your own. His teeth were wore down to a nub. Kennewick Man was missing a molar and molar wear suggested that he ate food contaminated with fine abrasives and courser particles, such as sand. His tooth wear also suggests he used his teeth for more than just chewing food. He probably used his teeth in task-oriented activities, such as hide preparation and cutting. 



Kennewick Man had extensive chest injuries during his short lifetime (figure seven). His skeleton showed the presence of healed fractures in at least five ribs on his right side. The broken ribs had failed to heal properly, causing flailed chest syndrome, a life-threatening medical condition that occurs when a segment of the rib cage breaks due to trauma and becomes detached from the rest of the chest wall. Kennewick Man received a possible left rib fracture at the same time that the right rib fractures occurred. The scientists found no indication of infection or significant blood supply issue associated with the chest injury. They postulated that this was another young adult injury. Perhaps, Kennewick Man had a collision with a three-thousand pound Bison antiquus? We will never know.

Figure Seven - I recently broke three ribs so I understand.
The difference was I had a doctor and hospital to go to.   

Kennewick Man had bad knees. He had a condition called osteochondritis which is caused from damage to the meniscus, which causes erosion of the cartilage. Osteochondritis occurs most often in children and adolescents. It can cause symptoms either after an injury to a joint or after several months of activity, especially high-impact activity such as jumping and running, that affects the joint. 

In real life, bone under the knee cartilage can die due to lack of blood flow causing bone and cartilage to break free, causing much pain. Eventually, Kennewick Man's  knees were bone on bone. The scientists determined that he lived with this inflammation of the cartilage and / or bone in the knee.

Then, there was the Grand Poobah of injuries. Kennewick Man had a stone projectile point imbedded in his right posterior ilium. The stone projectile had been in his hipbone long enough for the bone to regrow over it. Scientists speculated that the possible symptoms could have included pus drainage for the rest of Kennewick Man's life. This injury might have led to a moderate amount of pain all of the time. This injury might have led to anorexia, sleeplessness, derangement of secretions, great irritability and despondency. An analysis of his leg bones indicated that Kennewick Man had no lasting / significant mobility loss from this injury. The scientists believe that this injury occurred in Kennewick Man’s teen or young adult years. 

So, you think you are tough enough to be a Paleoindian? Not me. These people had an extremely intense existence. They could not dial 911 when they needed help or go to the doctor if they did not feel well or call a cop if they got into a bind. They were on their own, for better or for worse. So, next time any of us feel sorry for ourselves, think about Kennewick Man and what he endured. Amazing, all of a sudden I feel a whole lot better about my own aches and pains. ;). 

So, now your next assignment is to read the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Quadrilogy to see if I accurately depicted life 10,700 years ago. Then, let me know what YOU think!   

                  CLICK to ORDER Shadows on the Trail Pentalogy