No evidence for Clovis comet catastrophe, archaeologists say

University of Chicago Press Journals ^ | September 29, 2010 | Unknown

[decimon]

New research challenges the controversial theory that an ancient comet impact devastated the Clovis people, one of the earliest known cultures to inhabit North America.

Writing in the October issue of Current Anthropology, archaeologists Vance Holliday (University of Arizona) and David Meltzer (Southern Methodist University) argue that there is nothing in the archaeological record to suggest an abrupt collapse of Clovis populations. "Whether or not the proposed extraterrestrial impact occurred is a matter for empirical testing in the geological record," the researchers write. "Insofar as concerns the archaeological record, an extraterrestrial impact is an unnecessary solution for an archaeological problem that does not exist."

The comet theory first emerged in 2007 when a team of scientists announced evidence of a large extraterrestrial impact that occurred about 12,900 years ago. The impact was said to have caused a sudden cooling of the North American climate, killing off mammoths and other megafauna. It could also explain the apparent disappearance of the Clovis people, whose characteristic spear points vanish from the archaeological record shortly after the supposed impact.

As evidence for the rapid Clovis depopulation, comet theorists point out that very few Clovis archaeological sites show evidence of human occupation after the Clovis. At the few sites that do, Clovis and post-Clovis artifacts are separated by archaeologically sterile layers of sediments, indicating a time gap between the civilizations. In fact, comet theorists argue, there seems to be a dead zone in the human archaeological record in North America beginning with the comet impact and lasting about 500 years.

But Holliday and Meltzer dispute those claims. They argue that a lack of later human occupation at Clovis sites is no reason to assume a population collapse. "Single-occupation Paleoindian sites—Clovis or post-Clovis—are the norm," Holliday said. That's because many Paleoindian sites are hunting kill sites, and it would be highly unlikely for kills to be made repeatedly in the exact same spot.

"So there is nothing surprising about a Clovis occupation with no other Paleoindian zone above it, and it is no reason to infer a disaster," Holliday said.

In addition, Holliday and Meltzer compiled radiocarbon dates of 44 archaeological sites from across the U.S. and found no evidence of a post-comet gap. "Chronological gaps appear in the sequence only if one ignores standard deviations (a statistically inappropriate procedure), and doing so creates gaps not just around [12,900 years ago] but also at many later points in time," they write.

Sterile layers separating occupation zones at some sites are easily explained by shifting settlement patterns and local geological processes, the researchers say. The separation should not be taken as evidence of an actual time gap between Clovis and post-Clovis cultures.

Holliday and Meltzer believe that the disappearance of Clovis spear points is more likely the result of a cultural choice rather than a population collapse. "There is no compelling data to indicate that North American Paleoindians had to cope with or were affected by a catastrophe, extraterrestrial or otherwise, in the terminal Pleistocene," they conclude.

###

Vance T. Holliday and David J. Meltzer, "The 12.9-ka ET Impact Hypothesis and North American Paleoindians." Current Anthropology 51:5 (October 2010).

Current Anthropology is a transnational journal devoted to research on humankind, encompassing the full range of anthropological scholarship on human cultures and on the human and other primate species. The journal is published by The University of Chicago Press and sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

SMU is a private university in Dallas where nearly 11,000 students benefit from the national opportunities and international reach of SMU's seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

[decimon]

Clovisn’t ping.

[pogo101]

What if it had wiped out the Fresno people instead?

[RobRoy]

Ha! Everyone knows the Clovis people were wiped out by the Cletis tribe.

[Inyo-Mono]

Holliday and Meltzer believe that the disappearance of Clovis spear points is more likely the result of a cultural choice rather than a population collapse.

So the Paleo Indians, as a "culture" decided to quit make Clovis points?

[Rev DMV]

You just have the Sanger’s to deal with then...

[qam1]

Not surprising,

All these “A comet/asteroid caused Ice Age/Post Ice age extinctions” hypothesizes are just last ditch efforts to save the Myth of the Noble Savage.

It just hurts the liberal feelings that the “at one with nature” ancient man could have actually waged wars, committed genocide and hunted many species to extinction, so they try and blame it on comets/asteroids instead.

[rdl6989]

Clovis became Folsom.

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/prehistoric_indians.htm

http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/history/clovis_folsom_transition.htm

http://www.ele.net/art_folsom/pre-clovis_2004/preclovis2004.htm

[decimon]

So the Paleo Indians, as a "culture" decided to quit make Clovis points?

I read this as saying that sites of Clovis occupation were temporary and that different sites found provide a continuous record of Clovis occupation, hence existence.

[Circle_Hook]

Ping

[Beowulf9]

“It just hurts the liberal feelings that the “at one with nature” ancient man could have actually waged wars, committed genocide and hunted many species to extinction, so they try and blame it on comets/asteroids instead.”

After watching a show the other night on how the Roman army wiped out the human sacrificing-cannibal-diet crazy mother Druids, I’m GLAD there have been some ancient tribes gone from the earth.

Thank you Rome!

[Dusty Road]

Who says the Clovis people disappeared? Simply because they stopped using a specific tool doesn't necessarily mean they vanished. They just moved along, adapted to the new world and changed tools as the needs came up. The needs for the larger Clovis style points just wasn't there anymore but a lighter faster atlatl throwing smaller darts at higher speeds may have been just the ticket. I knap points the same way they did using only antler, bone and stone and I can tell you right now the Clovis is if not the, one of the most difficult points to produce. I would have stopped using it the first chance I got. Here's a few I made.

[decimon]

Are your neighbors wary of you? ;-)

[SunkenCiv]

I'm reminded of the joker who used his thesis (don't remember for which level) to try to build a wall of denial regarding the 12th c impact on the Moon, for which a single eyewitness account survives.

• Mammoth-killing space blast 'off the hook'

Thanks decimon.

---

The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

---

[SunkenCiv]

• What killed the mammoths and other behemoths?
• Ancient Atomic Warfare - Religious texts and geological evidence
• The Pleistocene Extinction
• Supernova debris found on Earth
• Deep freeze dealt death knell to bison (Ice Age)
• Supernova Storm Wiped Out Mammoths?
• Supernova Storm Wiped Out Mammoths?
• Scientist: Comets Blasted Early Americans
• Native Americans Recorded Supernova Explosion
• Terrestrial Evidence of a Nuclear Catastrophe in Paleoindian Times
• Did comet start deadly cold snap?
• Diamonds tell tale of comet that killed off the cavemen
• Catastrophic Comet Chilled and Killed Ice Age Beasts (and Clovis people)
• Oregon Researchers Involved In New Clovis-Age Impact Theory (More)
• Comet May Have Doomed Mammoths
• Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did A Comet Blow Up Over Eastern Canada? (More) (Carolina Bays)
• Climate alarmists lose another piece of evidence
• Comet Theory Collides With Clovis Research, May Explain Disappearance of Ancient People
• NSF Press Release: Comet May Have Exploded Over North America 13,000 Years Ago
• Research Team Says Extraterrestrial Impact To Blame For Ice Age Extinctions (More)
• Cosmic blast may have killed off megafauna: Scientists say early humans doomed, too
• Cosmic blast may have killed off megafauna: Scientists say early humans doomed, too
• Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago
• Site Provides Evidence For Ancient Comet Explosion (Topper - SC)
• The End of Eden: The Comet That Changed Civilization
• Great beasts peppered from space
• Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?
• Al Goodyear And The Secrets Of Ancient Americans
• The mysterious forest rings of northern Ontario
• Life Survived Catastrophic Space Rock Impact [Chesapeake Bay area]
• Research Casts New Light On History Of North America
• Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened By New Evidence Located In Ohio, Indiana
• First Humans To Settle Americas Came From Europe, Not From Asia....
• Diamonds Rained Down During Ice Age
• Diamonds Rained Down During Ice Age ($$$)
• First Humans To Settle Americas Came From Europe, Not From Asia Over Bering Strait -
• Tracking down abrupt climate changes (Rapid natural climate change 12,700 years ago)
• Mammoth Mystery: The Beasts' Final Years
• Scientists find signs of 13,000-year-old extinction event
• Scientists say comet killed off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers
• Diamonds Linked to Quick Cooling Eons Ago
• Six North American sites hold 12,900-year-old nanodiamond-rich soil
• Did a Comet Hit Earth 12,000 Years Ago?
• Mammoths wiped out by 'perfect storm?'
• Laser mapping may help solve the mystery of the Mima Mounds
• Humans to Blame for Extinction? - Not Necessarily So ...
• Did a Comet Cause a North American Die-Off around 13,000 Years Ago?
• Carolina bays gouged into the ground at a magnetic reversal
• North America comet theory questioned
• Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months
• Car-Sized Creature Whacked with Tail's Sweet Spot (until 10,000 years ago)
• Starvation 'wiped out' giant deer
• Prehistoric man, giant animal coexisted
• Extinction of Giant Mammals Changed Landscape Dramatically
• Sophisticated hunters not to blame for driving mammoths to extinction
• Big freeze plunged Europe into ice age in months
• Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth
• Explosive Nearby Star Could Threaten Earth
• T Pyxidis Soon To Be A Type Ia Supernova
• The Death Star (Supernova close to Earth - could wipe us out)
• Cave reveals Southwest's abrupt climate swings during Ice Age
• Musk Ox Population Decline Due to Climate, Not Humans, Study Finds
• Hour-long hailstorm may have caused 1,000-year freeze, say scientists
• Comet trail may have caused last ice age - UPI.com
• New Study Reveals Link Between 'Climate Footprints' and Mass Mammal Extinction
• As Mammoths Died Out, Earth Chilled (mammoth burp and fart levels dropped, contributing to cooling)
• Methane Extinctions - Could this Explain the Carolina Bays?
• Fungi, Feces Show Comet Didn't Kill Ice Age Mammals?
• Answer to what ended the last ice age may be blowing in the winds, paper says
• Los Angeles oil history runs deep
• Woolly mammoth extinction 'not linked to humans'
• True causes for extinction of cave bear revealed

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks decimon.

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	Thanks decimon. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I thought Clovis was one of Marcel’s brothers.

[Redcitizen]

Then Encino man wouldnt have existed. =)

[ApplegateRanch]

Correted title: No Evidence For Clovis Comet Catastrophe, TWO Archaeologists Say