The Social Groups and Decline of a Southwestern Clovis Network

Abstract

M. A. Wendorf*

Background: The Clovis technocomplex of North America is reminiscent of the Upper Paleolithic industries of Eurasia, but has notable differences [1]. Clovis may have lasted from ca. 13,050 to 12,750 years ago, though some Clovis manifestations may date from about 13,500 years ago [2,3]. Clovis is particularly well known from Southeastern Arizona where a number of Mammoth kill sites have been found including Murray Springs, Lehner Ranch, and Naco [4-7].

Objective: The objective of this research was to map a network that extended across southeastern Arizona, Southwestern New Mexico, and northern Sonora, Mexico and to show how this network responded to environmental change.

Methods: Network nodes were Clovis assemblages or stone quarry sites that had been visited by Clovis and links were identified by lithic raw materials that were shared between the network nodes. Two separate network maps were drawn and compared.

Results: A new Clovis site was identified near Willcox, Arizona. Twenty Clovis assemblages were identified and designated network nodes. The network showed evidence of the foraging party, seasonal aggregation, and periodic aggregation social grouping layers of a Clovis band. The two network maps showed the network during event time 1 and event time 2 respectively. The network evidently declined from the west during event time 2 due to a drought in the Sonoran Desert region.

Conclusions: A Clovis band in Southeastern Arizona and adjacent regions of the Southwest evidently was supported by a regional social network that may have been a small world. This network evidently was robust to the loss of nodes and links on its western side.

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