Clovis Point found at Grand Canyon N.P.
In late January 2005, park visitors Chuck LaRue,
Chaz LaRue, and Mark Stevenson were bird watching along Grand Canyon's South Rim when Chuck noticed an unusual
lithic artifact. LaRue, a biologist who spends part of his free time flintknapping, recognized it as a fluted Paleo-Indian
projectile point fragment. He documented its location and notified GRCA archeologists. Prior to this, a Folsom point fragment dating between 8,000 and 9,000 B.C. was the oldest artifact found in the park. Interestingly, both the Clovis and the Folsom point fragments were found near a cross-canyon route in the eastern Grand Canyon. We know that the route was used prehistorically by the Ancestral Puebloans and these finds suggest earlier inhabitants may have used it as well. GRCA archeologists continue to investigate whether this point is an isolated artifact or if it is part of a larger Paleo-Indian site. |
View the Treasures in an 1893 Grand Canyon Prospector's Cache
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