#aFactADay2026
#1858: Clovis points are thought to have been used for lots of different purposes, but primarily as a projectile. they'd be strapped to a pole or something and thrown forwards like a javelin, or maybe a throwing dagger or something. and lots of thrusting and the likes, usual spear stuff. microfracture analysis, yeah yeah, i know what i'm talking about.
but these points, as the token tool of the Clovis culture, were also used for butchery. specimens have wear-and-tear marks that point towards scraping and chopping.
and the way that they found this out is really fun, because they got to make their own period-accurate Clovis points and then use them in various scenarios and look under a microscope to see what happened. for example, they took a replica point and scraped some meat off some bone. a thousand times. literally two thousand strokes, to see what would happen. interestingly, although maybe not surprisingly, it had a polishing effect, which they also found on some period specimens. they noted, "Considerable tension was required to remove the tendons and connective tissue" (Smallwood, 2013). so now you know.
