Clovis (Llano)

Clovis, also known as Llano, culture was an early Indigenous culture that was widely distributed throughout much of North America. These big-game hunters sought mammoths, mastodons, camels and horses that were native to North America at the time. Following the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciers, these animals became extinct, hastening the end of this stage of the history of early Indigenous peoples in North America.

Artifacts from the Debert site in Nova Scotia. Among the many stone implements are distinctive fluted, lanceolate spearpoints of a type typical of the Clovis Big-Game Hunting tradition (courtesy Canadian Museum of Civilization).

Culture and Archaeological Sites

Clovis culture’s duration was fairly short, from about 9,500 to 9,000 BCE. Major archaeological sites are located south of a line stretching from Arizona to Nova Scotia. The most famous of these sites include Lehner and Naco in Arizona, Blackwater Draw and Clovis in New Mexico, and Debert in Nova Scotia. The culture is characterized by a fluted or grooved lanceolate projectile point or knife called Clovis Fluted by archaeologists. Fluting was produced by removing long flakes from the flat surfaces along the complete length of the implement. The accompanying complex of stone tools included a variety of blades, burins, scrapers, knives and drills.