On the efficacy of Clovis fluted points for hunting proboscideans

Abstract Clovis fluted points are deemed efficient weapon tips for hunting large game, including Pleistocene proboscideans. However, experimental and archaeological studies cast doubt on their effectiveness as hunting weapons. Owing to the broad and thick tip geometry of Clovis points, their penetration depth into a carcass would have been relatively limited, which would have rendered them unlikely to reach the well-protected vital organs of a proboscidean and inflict lethal wounds. Nor do Clovis points display the types of breakage patterns and impact damage that would be expected were they routinely used as hunting weapons for megafauna, especially when compared with Folsom points found in bison kill sites. Our results question the long-assumed effectiveness of Clovis points for dispatching proboscideans; while these may have on occasion been used as weapon tips on proboscidean prey, they likely had other functions as well.