Size, shape, scars, and spatial patterning: A quantitative assessment of late Pleistocene (Clovis) point resharpening

Resharpening is considered to be a common technique for extending the use life of stone tools in certain prehistoric contexts. For Clovis peoples, the earliest well-documented North Americans, resharpening is believed to have been particularly important because foraging territories were unknown or poorly known. Gardner (1983, Archaeol East N Amer 11, 49-64) proposed a spatial model of Clovis point resharpening wherein the effects of resharpening increase with distance from stone outcrop. Here we report a study that quantitatively assesses Gardner's model using a large sample of Clovis points from three high-quality chert sources in the Midwest. To investigate the predictions of the model, we used least-cost pathway distances from outcrop locations to each Clovis point and three measures of point resharpening. Our expectations, derived from the model, are that as distance from outcrop increases, points should show evidence of increased resharpening and therefore be smaller in size; should deviate from the classic shape; and should exhibit greater outer-to-inner flake-scar ratios. Our results indicate that there is no spatial patterning of these three measures of point resharpening and therefore do not support Gardner's model. Further analyses suggest that resharpening was not a significant source of Clovis-point variation at the population level and that Clovis points in the Midwest may not have served as the long-life tools as has been generally assumed.