Pre-Clovis in Texas? A critical assessment of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex”

Lithic artifacts from the lowest strata of the Debra L. Friedkin site, located on Buttermilk Creek in central Texas, have been interpreted as an undisturbed pre-Clovis assemblage (Waters et al., 2011a). Stone tools and debitage were recovered from sediments stratified just below diagnostic Clovis artifacts and dated by OSL to between 13.2 and >15.5 cal kya. Invoking commonly observed cultural and natural site formation processes, we offer an alternative explanation of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex” as a Clovis assemblage in secondary association with the dated sediments.

► We critically evaluate the claim for a pre-Clovis occupation at the Debra L. Friedkin site in Texas. ► Results indicate trampling and turbation can explain the unusually old dates for a Clovis-like lithic assemblage. ► We interpret the Buttermilk Creek Complex as Clovis tools and debitage in secondary context.