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

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.