Engaging Folsom (10,800-10,200) Hunter-Gatherers with 3D Technologies

Folsom Archaeology

A major controversy in archaeology prior to 1926 was whether Native Americans migrated to the Americas before the end of the last ice age approximately 11,000 years ago (radiocarbon years).

The Folsom site originally was discovered in 1908 by George McJunkin, an African-American cowboy. McJunkin noticed large bones eroding out of the arroyo after a big flash flood that exposed the ancient kill. He brought the site to the attention of local amateur natural historians in Raton, New Mexico who eventually contacted Harold Cook.

Cook and Jesse Figgins, researchers from the Colorado Museum of Natural History in Denver, led excavations that documented stone projectile points were used to kill an extinct form of bison (Bison antiquus) in Wild Horse arroyo located in northeastern New Mexico. The site was named the Folsom site after the nearby town of Folsom, New Mexico and the associated previously unknown points were termed Folsom projectile points.

The Folsom site discovery was the first to demonstrate that Native Americans were present at the end of the last ice age. Just 10 years later, Folsom points and ancient bison remains were discovered at what is now known as the Lubbock Lake Landmark. For decades afterward, Lubbock Lake was known primarily as a Folsom site.

Today, over 14 Folsom sites have been identified across the Southern Plains of North America. Radiocarbon ages indicate that Folsom sites date between 10,800-10,200 years old and represents one of the oldest time periods of hunter-gatherers in North America.

After the Folsom discovery, E.B. Howard and John Cotter, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences , led field work that documented a different style of projectile point used to kill mammoths stratigraphically below and older than Folsom along Blackwater Draw in New Mexico. These points were named Clovis projectile points after the nearby town of Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis sites across North America have been radiocarbon dated to 11,500-10,800 years old. Clovis also is represented at the Landmark as are more recent Paleoindian peoples that came after Folsom.

Folsom at Adair-Steadman – An Edwards Formation chert stone tool workshop

Adair-Steadman is located on a terrace north of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River and near a spring that flowed during Folsom times. Chert from an Edwards Formation gravel quarry was carried 3.12 miles (5.03 kilometers) to Adair-Steadman for making stone tools.

Adair-Steadman took its name from the landowner and the person who discovered the site. Foy Steadman, a local postal delivery person, found the site in the late 1960s and brought it to the attention of the landowner Link Adair and the Texas Historical Commission. Curtis Tunnell, at the time the Texas State Archeologist, was the original investigator.

Over 45,000 stone tools and debitage were recovered during this work. With the discovery of Folsom point preforms, channel flakes, and projectile points, Tunnell was the first to decipher how Folsom flintknappers made Folsom projectile points. Adair-Steadman was the first known workshop for making Folsom points.

The Lubbock Lake Landmark research team renewed investigations at Adair-Steadman in 1999. Annual surveys and test excavations are uncovering additional stone tools and debitage that provide more information about activities at the site. Examination of objects from the original investigation is ongoing to add new information on Folsom flintknapping activities at the site.

The Process of Flintknapping

Flintknapping Tools

Folsom projectile point manufacturing sequence

Folsom Lithic Technology “thinner is better”

Folsom hunter-gatherers relied upon flaked stone for making cutting, scraping, drilling, piercing, and projectile tools. An important consideration in crafting stone tools was minimizing the amount of flaked stone weight carried across the landscape. Folsom flintknappers excelled at making extremely thin bifaces and projectile points for minimizing weight while maximizing the amount of potential tool uses.

Bifaces are multifunctional tools similar to today’s Swiss army knife and useful in three different ways

• Bifaces can be used as cores for driving off thin and sharp flakes useful as tools themselves or for further reduction into other tools types.
• Bifaces are great handheld tools for butchering and cutting tasks
• Bifaces themselves can be reduced further into other tools types such as projectile points or knives.

Folsom flintknappers made extremely thin bifaces known as ultra-thins. Ultra-thin bifaces had a width-thickness ratio of 8 to 1 or greater. Making ultra-thin bifaces required a lot of skill to not break the bifaces in half while removing thinning flakes. Ultra-thin bifaces were light weight, portable packages for supplying raw material for making tools, and used as tools themselves.

Making objects that are light and portable as possible without giving up usefulness is still common today. For example, each generation of tablet computers have become thinner to decrease weight while increasing computing power

Folsom Lithic Technology - Folsom Projectile Point

Folsom flintknappers made extremely thin projectile points by fluting one or both sides of the biface.

Folsom flintknappers broke their intended Folsom point while fluting 1/3 of the time. Although fluting was risky, Folsom flintknappers desired the thinnest projectile point possible.

Fluted Folsom points were hafted to near the tip, only exposing the outer edges of the point. When the tip was fractured from impact, the point was slid up like a utility knife, resharpened, and reused.

From Adair-Steadman to Lubbock Lake Landmark – Folsom Moving on the Landscape

This map compares the time and possible route differences of people traveling today by car across roadways to Folsom people in the past from Adair-Steadman to Lubbock Lake Landmark.

Folsom Mobility Hunting Ancient Bison

Folsom hunter-gatherers moved great distances to follow herds of ancient bison.

In comparison to modern bison, ancient bison is approximately 30% larger in size and had horns that projected more to the side rather than curving up towards the top of the head. Ancient bison was adapted to cool season grasslands and likely lived in smaller size herds. The changeover from the ancient to modern form occurs sometime between 8,000-6,500 years ago, and, most likely, around 7,000 years ago.

Changes in past animals species can be examined through detailed studies of their bones. Metapodials are a key element used to understand the nature of changes in bison.

Metapodials preserve well in the geological record and reflect changes in bison anatomy. Metapodials become smaller in size and the outer bone wall becomes less thick through time. These findings indicate a change in bison size and movement patterns during the last 11,000 years.

Press play on the models to see the difference between Bison bison and Bison antiquus Metatarsals in 3D

You can drag and rotate the metatarsals to see them at all angles. At the physical exhibit, models are printed so that visitors can handle them.

Once a 3D model is created, it can be evaluated, edited, and exported in a 3D file format for 3D printing. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of producing a physical object from a 3D model by laying down successive layers of material.

3D printing allows interaction with objects in unparalleled ways and it is a technology that is relevant in many professional fields. Architects and engineers utilize 3D printing to create prototypes while children use 3D printing to create new toys, especially legos. 3D modeling and 3D printing allow museums to share cultural and natural heritage in new and innovative ways.

3D technologies are an integral part of both research and sharing results of this work with the public. High quality 3D digital models gives researchers the ability to zoom in and view the objects at high resolution for study.

These technologies also create an opportunity to share research with a wider audience and in more interactive ways. For example, the ultrathin biface is an important example of Folsom technology and by 3D printing it, visitors are able to touch the flake scars and thin edge to get a better sense of how this archaeological object was formed and used. 3D digital models also allow for the seamless application of braille for increased accessibility to the blind community.

The Landmark research team currently is using 3D models to examine in greater detail how Folsom flintknappers prepared Folsom projectile points through fluting. The 3D models allow Landmark researchers to take different types of measurements that include area and volume not possible with traditional types of analysis.

Resources

Display case at the exhibit