Clovis Stone Tools

Clovis Point Spear

• These lethal blades, the largest found being 9 inches long, were used for killing large game, including mammoths. Commonly made of chalcedony or obsidian, these tools had a leaf-like shape fashioned by flaking off pieces until what was left was a sharp tipped blade with grooves on the base. These grooves or flutes were used to attach the point to a spear, commonly made of bone or wood. The sides of the blades were flaked until they were sharp enough to cut through the heavy hides and muscle mass of the Clovis’ prey animals.

Clovis End Scraper

• Heavier and stouter than the Clovis spear point, the end scrapers were used to take the fur off the outer layer of an animal hide and tissue from the skin’s inner surface. These were crafted in a triangle like shape that could be held in the hand. Some scrapers have been found that show grooves similar to the spear point, indicating that they were sometimes attached to a handle of some sort. The point was more rounded for safety, and thicker to hold up under heavy, constant used.

Clovis Flakes

• Tools were made from flakes struck off of a blade core, usually with part of an antler. A blade core is a hunk of stone or obsidian that when struck exactly right will cause long, evenly sided pieces to flake off. These flakes could then be shaped into flake knives, with or without handles, drills or awls to punch through hides, or flake side scrapers, sharp on one side, dull on the other, to finish hides. Blade cores were carried with the tribe to make additional tools as needed.