Envisioning a Western Clovis Ritual Complex

ABSTRACT It is becoming increasingly apparent that the initial migrants into the Americas arrived via the Pacific coastal route prior to the inception of the Clovis complex. It further appears that these initial immigrants had non-Clovis technology and a generalized (or broad spectrum) economy with little use of the megafauna in their midst. Once developed, Clovis, marked by a different lithic technology, quickly spread over most of the Americas as far south as Panama, and is associated with the exploitation of proboscideans. This begs the question of why these animals were not exploited by the apparently earlier people. It is speculated herein that the seemingly abrupt appearance of Clovis, its focus on proboscideans, and its sudden demise reflects the appearance of a technologic and organizational system focused on the ritual exploitation of mammoths operating within preexisting Paleoindian societies, herein called the Western Clovis Ritual Complex.