The Functional Use of Quartz Crystal Points in Clovis Technology

Quartz crystals are difficult to knap due to their small size, macro-crystalline structure, and hardness. Despite these drawbacks, Clovis people used quartz crystals to make points and other tools. These artifacts have been recovered in a variety of site contexts. This study compares Clovis points made of quartz crystals to Clovis points made of other toolstones. We use scaling and geometric morphometric analyses to compare the dimensions and outline shapes of these two groups of Clovis points. Our results show that quartz crystal Clovis points, while generally smaller, are similar to Clovis points made from other toolstones. We propose that quartz crystals were used by Clovis people for several reasons including the knappable and durable nature of the material, as well as for the unique properties of quartz crystals including translucency and triboluminescence. These reasons are not necessarily mutually exclusive and could have together attracted Clovis people to quartz crystals.