Stone Age New York

front

dorsal side

          Humankind has made artifacts from meteoritic iron for thousands of years. This Clovis Heart is about twice as old as ancient Egyptian tubular iron beads manufactured in 3500 BC. Fashioned from rare meteoritic iron, this beautifully crafted artifact is shaped in the image of a bird. This should not be surprising, since the iron itself, like the image it represents, once flew.

          Examining this artifact from different angles, three tool shapes emerge. The first two photos show the Heart position, front and dorsal sides. It has a fluted base and tip. In the third picture the artifact is shown as a one-point base, hooked pentagonal. When held in this position, one can feel the thumb and finger grips built into this metal knife. The last two photos show the artifact in its standing position, a flared-ear fluted point.

          Because it was manufactured from the rarest of materials, it was probably a ceremonial knife owned by a senior member of the clan, perhaps a chieftain or high priest.

          This metallic Clovis Heart is proof that humans produced artifacts of meteoritic iron as long ago as paleo indian times, thousands of years before the advent of the Iron Age. That ancient tool makers could produce an iron artifact of this detail without modern iron smelting methods is a tribute to their tool making skill and technique.

Fluted concave base, convex opposite side

Concave base, fluted opposing ear

Point has unfluted base

Artifact has multiple blades for butchering

          Clovis artifacts were manufactured in a variety of styles and sizes. These Clovis "Hearts" are actually triangular points with concave bases. The bases on the first two artifacts are fluted, but in different places. The first is at the concave base, the second on the opposing corner. The largest artifact is a stone chopper that is still sharp and has multiple cutting blades. It was made in the "bird" image, (wide and narrow ears) at the base. The Clovis Heart design was useful for both hunting and butchering jobs.

          Questions come to mind concerning why ancient stone tool makers engineered variations of design in these points. Why is the base fluting located in two separate areas on two of the points, and non-existent on the third? Why does one heart have a convex side while the same side on the two similar points, are flat? Are these differences standardized variations in the artifact's manufacturing design, or just examples of how two different tool makers carve the same type of point?

          One more note on these artifacts. Clovis Hearts with one point bases tend to have fluted tips on the dorsal side to create deeper wounds in prey, and were manufactured in varying sizes, perhaps for hunting different sized fauna.

Top view showing ridges

Left side of blade

Close-up of flaking scar

       An examination of this Curved Clovis Blade reveals evidence that supports conventional Clovis artifact engineering theory. As butchery proceeded, new artifacts were continually flaked from the original biface. This stone knife curves to the left, thus lengthening the cutting edge and speeding up the butchery process. The bottom of the artifact is rounded, making it a true curved blade. There are two ridges, one running the length of the artifact, the other perpendicular to the first and extending to the edge.

       The second photo is a side view which reveals flaking scars and an extended base. Notice the flaking scar pattern just above the extended base. The pattern is clearly that of the previously described Clovis Heart. The scratches in the stone are deeper and more numerous in this area than in other parts of the flute, indicating that the artifact's maker put more detailed effort into this part of the fluting than the rest. This flaking scar shows that Clovis Hearts are the same age, and come from the same resource as Clovis Fluted Points.

       The last picture is a close-up of the Clovis Heart flaking scar to give the reader a better perspective of what is being described. Clovis Hearts come in at least two different styles and were made of at least three different materials.

Curved Point with flutings assembled

Shown with flutings removed

          This leaf shape fluted point offers information about lithic reduction strategy and stone tool design during the paleoindian fluted point period thought to have begun with Clovis and continued to the end of Folsom some 10,000 years ago. This artifact had at least four flutings removed from it, of which, two were found. The combined pattern of all flutings that were removed is also leaf shaped.

          Notice that the shape of one of the missing flutes near the bottom of the artifact is the previously described Clovis "Heart" pattern. This is evidence that these curved fluted points were probably crafted by Clovis fluted point makers. The base of the artifact is concave, also similar to the Clovis Fluted Point.

          The maker of this curved fluted point was a highly skilled craftsman and expert stone tool maker. This artifact was cut so precisely that a fossilized shell on the reverse side of the larger fluting fits snugly into the shell's pattern remaining on the front of the base piece.