Clovis and Folsom age estimates:

stratigraphic context and radiocarbon

calibration
R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
The events to do with peopling the New World archaeologically represented by Clovis
and Folsom have been - tantalizingly - beyond the range of radiocarbon calibration.
Now calibration extends further, one can ask i f the abruptness of Clovis, of Folsom, and
of the transition between them are realities. A calibrated chronology for those sites where
the stratigraphic security i s best shows these in truth are rapid human affairs.
Introduction
In the late 192os, the discovery of several fluted
projectile points associated with skeletons of
an extinct species of bison convinced the ar-
chaeological profession that human populations
had entered the New World sometime between
10,000 and 25,000 years ago (Wormington 1957).
This age was at least twice that previously
accepted by the professional community.
These fluted projectile points - given the
name Folsom points after the nearest New
Mexico town - had not previously been
known (Meltzer 1989).
In 1932-33, larger and more robust fluted
points were found in situ at the Dent site in
Colorado. Their association with the skeletons
of a dozen mammoths led to the idea that these
Folsom-like points (they were not as yet called
Clovis) were used to kill mammoths, while the
more delicate Folsom points were used to kill
smaller game, like bison (Wormington 1957).
In 1936 and 1937, near Clovis, New Mexico, a
robust fluted point was found again with mam-
moth bones. However, these materials were in
sediments stratigraphically below a deposit
containing Folsom points associated with bi-
son skeletons. This resulted in the robust form
being recognized as older than Folsom and being
named Clovis points.
For over half a century, the stratigraphic
separation of Clovis and Folsom has persisted,
while nearly a dozen stratified Clovis sites and
several dozen stratified Folsom sites have been
scientifically excavated. Since the early 1950s,
14C age determinations have been obtained on
a variety of materials associated with, or pur-
ported to be associated with, Clovis and Folsom
materials. In addition, using primarily
dendrochronologically dated wood to provide
known age controls, systematic anomalies in
the 14C time scale over the Holocene were docu-
mented. Unfortunately, Clovis I4C and most of
the Folsom 14C values lay beyond the reach of
the dendrochronologically based calibration
database. However, from time to time, ques-
tions were posed as to the possible effect of
calibration on the Clovis and Folsom 14C Val-
ues if the calibration database was ever extended
(e.g. Haynes 1971; Taylor 1987; 1991; Meltzer
1995; Batt & Pollard 1996). With the availabil-
ity of paired uranium/thorium (234U/230Th) and
I4C samples from cores drilled into coral for-
mations, a pre-dendrochronological calibration
14C data base has now been developed (Bard et
al. 1993a; 1993b; Edwards et al. 1993).
The purpose of this discussion is to consider
the corpus of I4C values in light of the strati-
graphic contexts of Clovis and Folsom and the
* R.E. Taylor, Radiocarbon Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics,
University of California, Riverside, Riverside CA 92521, USA. C. Vance Haynes, Jr, Departments of Anthropology and
Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721, USA. Minze Stuiver, Quaternary Research Center, Department
of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195, USA.
Received 22 March 1996, accepted 22 May 1996
ANTIQUITY 70 (1996): 515-25
516
FLUVIAL MODE
HISTORIC GULLYING
EPICYCLES OF
FILLING
CUTTING AND
R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
4
z
2
2
z
a:
0
2
n
UNCALIBRATED
RADIOCARBON AG
(YEARS b.p.)
6
2
w
7000-8000
ALLUVIA1
UNIT
11,000
12,000-13,000
16,000
I
z2.
Z1'
1 1
AGGRADATION
/ TRANSITION FROM '
\ TO AGGRADATION
DEGRADATION
~
A0ANDONMENT OF
COINCIDENT WITH
DEGLACIATION
(NET DEGRADATION)
PLEISTOCENE TERRACE
physiochemical characteristics of the sample
materials, to address issues associated with the
extension of the 14C time frame for which cali-
bration data has been made available using
uranium-seriesP4C paired values, and to address
what can and cannot now be confidently as-
serted concerning the chronological overlap
between Clovis and Folsom.
Stratigraphic contexts
This discussion of Clovis/Folsom 14C data is
based on the premise that the stratigraphy of
most of the sites considered here can be corre-
lated to the generalized sequence summarized
in FIGURE 1 (Haynes 1984; n.d.), a view based
upon the consistent stratigraphic position of
fauna, flora, and archaeology from site to site
(Haynes 1971; 1991; n.d.).
In FIGURE 1, alluvial unit c1 represents Pleisto-
cene streams with discharges several times
greater than modern streams. LJnit 13, represents
terminal Pleistocene channel sedimentation
following a pronounced interval of degradation
represented by unconformity Z,. Along this
much reduced channel, elements of Rancho-
labrean fauna spent their final days as Clovis
CULTU RE5
CERAMIC
/
*
e
/ c
/
ARCHAIC
-
/
-
-
/
*
PALEO-
INDIAN
CLOVIS
PRE-
CLOVIS
(?)
FIGURE 1. Correlation
chart cf some late
Pleistocene-Holocene
alluviol events in
North .4merica.
M0difi.d from
Hayne:; f1984).
hunters pursued them some 11,000 radiocar-
bon years ago. Clovis Palaeoindians first ap-
pear in upper p,. The depositional contact Z,,
between p, and p2, marks essentidly the end of
Pleistocene extinction. Away from the p, channel
Z, and Z, join to form a single erosional con-
tact, Zl-z. Unit p2, the first significant post-pleisto-
cene aggradation, is silty sand or fine sandy
silt commonly lacking coarser c:hannel facies
and is probably slope-washed eolian sand or
loess. Subsequent alluvial units (y, 6, E) are de-
rived from slope wash and reworking of earlier
alluvial units. Radiocarbon ages of erosional in-
tervals indicate the range of time during which
degradation occurred. The transition from Rancho-
labrean fauna to the modern fauna is represented
by extinct forms of bison in unit p, as the last
vestige of the Pleistocene megafauna.
Each of the 14C-dated archaeological levels
being considered (TABLE 1) has come from a
stratified sedimentary context which can be
correlated at all but 3 of the sites (Anzick, Dent
and Hanson) on the basis of an erosional contact
(Z,J believed to have widespread geographic
distribution and to be, in part, drought-induced
(Haynes 1991). FIGURE 2 provides the location
CLOVIS AND FOLSOM AGE ESTIMATES: STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT AND RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION 517
Clovis sites 14C age b.p. Folsom sites I4C age b.p.
Murray Springs (8)
Lehner (12)
Anzick"
Dentb
UP Mammoth"
Lange/Fergusond
Colby"
Domebo'
Blackwater Draw (3)g
Aubrey (2)l'
10,890f50
10,940+40
10,940f90
10,980k90
11,280*350
11,140k140
11,200*2 20
11,480+450
11,300+240
11,570f70
Hanson (4)
Blackwater Draw (5)i
Carter/Kerr McGeei
LubbockLake
Indian Creek/lk
Owl Cave
Lindenmeier (3)
Agate Basin (2)'
Folsom (6)
Indian CreekW
10,250+90
10,290*90
10,400+600
10,540f100
10,630+280
10,640k85
10,660*60
10,700?70
10,890+50
10,980f150
Notes
a Bone (glycine fraction).
b
c
d Good association.
e Bone (collagen fraction).
f SM-695 and AA-823 (Elm wood] not used because of questionable association.
g Clovis type site; Carbonized plant remains (corrected values): 11,630k400 (A-491), 11,170+360 (A-481) and 11,040f500
h Average of 11,540+110 (AA-5271) and 11,590+90 (AA-5274).
i Good association, one of the samples used is bone (collagen fraction) and the remainder are carbonized plant re-
mains.
j Good association.
k
1
TABLE 1. Selected radiocarbon dates associated with Clovis and Folsom sites. See text for explanation of
basis of selection. Notes contain additional detail, explanation and commentary. When value cited in
the table i s an average, the number of 'T values averaged are listed in paraenthesis. The method of
averaging i s taken from Long b Rippeteau (1 974).
Only bone XAD hydrolysate fraction used: other bone amino acid values are assumed to be too young.
Tusk organics. Artefacts not diagnostic but probably Clovis.
(A-4901.
Indian Creek charcoal samples are from two locations several metres apart.
Average of SI-3733 and SI-3732; 1-472 not used because of questionable association.
of the sites in TABLE 1. In the alluvial sites such
as Murray Springs, Lehner, Up Mammoth, Colby
and Domebo, Clovis artefacts occur in situ on the
Zl-2 erosional surface as well as within the de-
posits of small channels equivalent to unit p, of
the generalized sequence. In the spring-depos-
ited sites, the Clovis type site at Blackwater Draw,
New Mexico, Lange/Ferguson in South Dakota
and Aubrey, Texas, Clovis artefacts occur again
on the Zl-2 surface as well as within springlaid
sands at Clovis and LangeIFerguson that are tem-
porally equivalent to unit p,. At the Aubrey site,
Clovis artefacts occur on the surface of a Pleisto-
cene colluvium and under pond sediments equiva-
lent to unit p,. The contact is an extension of Z,-,
from the camp area, which is on a buried allu-
vial terrace, to the pond area where the contact
is deflational (Humphrey & Ferring 1994).
Folsom artefacts, when found in si t u, occur
in the lower 10-20 cm of an alluvial unit (pz)
overlying the Z,-, contact at Blackwater Draw,
Folsom, Lindenmeier, Agate Basin, Hell Gap,
Carter/Kerr McGee, Hanson, and Indian Creek.
At Owl Cave (Miller 1982), Folsom artefacts
occur within a dark organic-rich fine sand ( p ~) ,
washed in and disconformably overlying a yel-
low clayey sand of late Pleistocene age, corre-
lated here with unit a of the generalized sequence.
Fine-grained units equivalent to pz occur at
seven of the Clovis sites as well, but only at
the Blackwater Draw (BWD) Clovis type-site
and the Carter/Kerr McGee site do Folsom ar-
tefacts occur in situ stratigraphically above the
Clovis artefacts. At BWD, they occur in a diato-
mite equivalent to unit p2 that covers the top
surfaces of mammoth bones associated with
Clovis points and other Clovis artefacts in a
gray sand equivalent to unit 01. Folsom arte-
facts, associated with bison skeletons, occur in
the diatomite as high as 20 cm above the diato-
mite basal contact while Clovis artefacts are
concentrated in the 10-15 cm below it. We
should note that a pre-Clovis habitation of North
America south of the Wisconsin ice border by
human populations has not been conclusively
demonstrated.
518
R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
I
No Folsom occupation level has ever been
found below the Zl-z contact, and no Clovis level
has ever been found in unit fi, above it. Fur-
thermore, the only mammoth bones found in
situ above the Zz contact were at Owl Cave where
they may have been deposited on Z2 before
Folsom people entered the cave. (If these are
contemporaneous with the Folsoni occupation,
they represent, stratigraphically, the youngest
mammoth remains known in North America.)
Based on stratigraphic analysis, i t appears that
the time difference between the latest Clovis
site and earliest Folsom site is real though small.
Radiocarbon calibration
Combined high-precision 14C/dendrochrono-
logical data sets based on Irish and German oaks,
Douglas fir, sequoia and bristlecone pine cur-
rently document about 9800 years of dendro-
chronological time with 20-year (bidecadal)
time-ring segments (Stuiver & Pearson 1993;
Pearson & Stuiver 1993; Pearson et a]. 1993;
Pearson & Qua 1993). The high-precision
dendrochronologically based calibration record
FIGURE 2. Location of
sites listed in TABLE 1
(Friso r7 1991 : 40; I?
Wilke, pers. comm.).
1 Aglite Basin
2 Anzick
3 Aubrey
4 Bl ~ckwat er Draw
5 CarterKerr McGee
6 Coilby
7 Dent
8 Domebo
9 Folsom
10 Hanson
11 Indian Creek
1 2 Lange/Ferguson
13 Lehner
14 Lindenmeier
15 Lulibock Lake
16 Murray Springs
17 Owl Cave
18 UP Mammoth
has been provisionally extended to 11,390 BP
by a proposed interlinking of the German oak
and pine dendrochronological sequence (Kromer
& Becker 1993; Becker 1993). This component
of the calibration data-base is provisional be-
cause it currently 11996) includes a floating
tree-ring segment; future revisiclns in the over-
lap correlations are possible. Thus, for the pe-
riod from 9840 to 11,440 BP (in radiocarbon
time back to about 10,050 b.p.) calibrated val-
ues are not, as yet, absolutely fixed in time.
For the late Pleistocene period before 10,050
b.p., paired coral uranium/thorium (U/Th) and
14C samples provide data on which a late Pleisto-
cene 14C calibration curve has been extended
to 21,950 BP (18,400 b.p. in I4C time) in 50-year
increments (Bard et al. 1993a; 1!393b; Edwards
et a]. 1993).
values
have evolved in response both to the changes
in the character of the data-base and, recently,
to widespread access to the necessary mathemati-
cal computational capabilities using micro-com-
puters. Widely distributed computationally
The procedures used to calibrate
CLOVIS AND FOLSOM AGE ESTIMATES: STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT AND RADIOCARBON CALIBRATlON 519
calibrated (calendar) age BP
T
%
Q 5000 t l I 1 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 . j
e 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5000 0
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
O L
5 -
-500
aJ
u
Lf
-
- 1 1 1 1 " 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' ' 1 1 1
30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5000 [OI
4
5
Q)
M
a
calibrated (calendar) age BC/AD
FIGURE 3. Atmospheric record: 0 to 30,000 years b. p. Design of figure adapted from Stuiver S Braziunas
(1993:figure 1). See also Stuiver S Reimer (1993a:figure 2).
based calibration programs include CAL15 (Cen-
tre for Isotope Research, University of Groningen,
Netherlands: van der Plicht 1993), OxCal (Ox-
ford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford Uni-
versity: Ramsey 1995), and CALIB (Quaternary
Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle:
Stuiver & Reimer 1993a; 1993b). In this discus-
sion, we use the most recent version and data-
base of CALIB (3.0.3) to extend the calibration
time-scale as applied to the corpus of Clovis and
Folsom I4C determinations.
With the extension of the I4C calibration
framework using the U/Th and 14C data on cor-
als, the original 'sine-wave' characterization of
the middle and late Holocene 14C calibration
curve appears to have been an artefact of the
limited time frame documented by the tree ring/
I4C data. As we see it now, a generalized repre-
sentation of the long-term secular variation I4C
anomaly over about the last 30,000 years seems
characterized by a slow-decay function on which
has been superimposed middle- and short-term
perturbations. FIGURE 3 is a representation of
that atmospheric I4C record. The data from 0
to 11,390 BP is based on dendrochronologically-
dated tree-ring 14C measurements (Stuiver &
Pearson 1993; Pearson & Stuiver 1993; Stuiver
& Becker 1993; Pearson et al. 1993 and Kromer
& Becker 1993). The solid-line curve in excess
of 11,390 BP is taken from splined U/Th and
I4C dates (triangles) on coral assuming a 400-
year marine/atmosphere reservoir age (R) off-
set (Bard et al. 1993a; 1993b). We will consider
below the accuracy and precision of the assumed
520 R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
calibrated (calendar) age BP
13,950 12,950 11,950 10,950 9950
1 " " , " ' " " " , , " " " "
12,000 11,000 10,000 9000 8000
calibrated (calendar) age BC
calibrated (calendar) age BC
FIGURE 4. Detail of
atmospheric record:
9000 to 12,000 b.p.
Tree-ring data the
same as in FIGURE 2.
See text for the basis
of the data before
11,390 BP.
FIGURE 5. Summed
probabilitv distri-
12,050 11.050 10.050 9050 8050 butions f oi the Clovis
(dashed) values taken
from lict of values Iisted
in Haynes 1992: table
are the sum of the
0 D25 [solid) rind Folsom
0 R20 24.1. Tkie distributions
x
.I I .I probability distribu-
n tions cdibrated for
Y
OR15 each sample renormal-
ized to total area equals
unity with the program
CALJB 3.0.3, Method B
(Stuiver b Reimer
1993). Insets show cal.
age ranges marked by
vertical solid lines for
probability levels which
contain 68.3% [lo,
dash-dclt line) and
95.4% (20, dotted line)
of the area under the
probability curves for
the two datasets.
K
Q)
>
0
3 OD10
pf
I
0 DO5
10,000
0 ROO
14,000 13,000 12,000 11,000
calibrated (calendar) age BP
reservoir offset value. The dotted-line curve for
the period before 23,000 BP is based on an as-
sumed atmospheric equilibrium or steady-state
value of 500% AI4C or 50% above the contem-
porary standard at 30,000 BC.
FIGURE 4 focuses attention on the relation-
ship between I4C and dendrochronological or
U/Th data for the period from about 9000 to
12,000 b.p. (about 9950 to 13,950 BP), the time
interval with which we are particularly con-
CLOVIS AND FOLSOM AGE ESTIMATES: STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT AND RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION 5 2 1
FIGURES 6a & 6b.
Calibration of 14C
values taken from
TABLE 1 f rom Clovis
(FIGURE 6a) and
Folsom (FIGURE 6b)
sites. Calibrated *4C
values expressed at
_+I o level (dark bands),
_+20 level (light bands)
with outer
m
m
m
m
m
Murray Spr i ngs
Lehner
Anzi ck
Dent
UP Mammoth
Lange/Ferguson
Col by
Oomebo
Bl ackwat er Draw
Aubrey
13,000 4 12,000 11,000 10,000 9000 8000
calibrated (calendar) age BC
Hanson
Bl ackwat er Draw
Car t er / Ker r McGee
LubbockLake
I ndi a nCr e e k / l
O w l Cave
Li ndenmei er
Agate Basi n
Folsom
I ndi anCr eek/ 2
neirner I YYXIJ, L ~ L I L )
3.0.3, Method A.
cerned. Data before 11,390 BP are based on U/
Th and I4C dates from Bard et al. 1993a (trian-
gles) and Edwards et al. 1993 (circles). The
smooth line represents the values used in the
calibration program, while the dotted line rep-
resents modifications in light of the Edwards
et al. (1993) data. The maximum smoothing
function (S = 25), within the limits recom-
522 R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
mended by Reisch (1967), was used with the
combined Bard and Edwards data since the
uncertainty in the U/Th ages is not considered
in the smoothing function.
Discussion
In our view, there are two major issues in the
real time temporal relationship between Clovis
and Folsom. First, what is the quality of the
corpus of the associated 14C age estimates? Sec-
ond, is it appropriate to use the U/Th-based
data to calibrate conventional 14C values in the
time-period represented by the Clovis and most
of the Folsom samples?
FIGURE 5 presents an earlier summary of the
published Clovis and Folsom 14C dates currently
available (Haynes 1992), the equivalent Cali-
brated value of each sample calculated with
CALIB 3.0.3, Method B (Stuiver & Reimer
1993b), and the summed probability distribu-
tion for the combined calibrated Clovis and
Folsom I4C data-sets. In this representation, the
overlap between Clovis and Folsom appears to
be significant.
The current suite of Clovis/Folsom 14C dates
have been obtained over more than three dec-
ades on a variety of sample materials of vari-
able quality. One of us (CVH) has undertaken
a careful re-examination of the corpus of Clevis/
Folsom 14C values. For another region, time
period and set of problems, a somewhat simi-
lar effort has been labelled chronometric hy-
giene (Spriggs 1989). TABLE 1 presents Clovis
and Folsom 14C determinations which fulfil two
criteria:
1 a secure stratigraphic relationship between
sample and a Clovis or Folsom site con-
text, and
2 the least problematic sample material from
a physiochemical perspective.
The selected 14C values listed in TABLE 1 are
taken from Haynes (1992: table 24.1) with the
following revisions: Hell Gap and Mill Iron 14C
determinations are removed, Aubrey (Humphrey
& Ferring 1994), Owl Cave (Miller 1982) and
Lubbock Lake (Holliday et al. 1983: SMU-547)
14C values are added, and the Clovis Blackwater
Draw determinations have been corrected. Hell
Gap 14C values (A-502, A-503, A-504) are on
bulk samples, exhibit large statistical errors,
and appear to have questionable association.
Also, it now appears that all nine Mill Iron site
I4C values derive from contexts which are not
Folsom or Midland but Plainview-Goshen.
Most samples listed in TABLE 1 are charcoal
or wood. As problems with biochemically-de-
gradedbone continue (Stafford ,etal. 1990; 1991;
Taylor 1992), it is our view that the 14C dates
on bone from this age range and these contexts,
even when specific amino acids are analysed,
are more likely to be minimum values. Where
there are multiple 14C values on bone, the old-
est has been used since this value, in our view,
probably more closely represents the actual age
of the site or stratigraphic level. Where there
are multiple 14C measurements for a single con-
text, the l4C value cited is an average obtained
by the method of Long & Rippeteau (1974). In
all, 31 14C age determinations obtained from
10 Clovis-period sites and 25 I4C age
determinations obtained from nine Folsom-
period sites have been selected (TABLE 1).
Using the calibration data and algorithms
of Stuiver & Reimer (1993a), the calibrated ranges
of the values listed in TABLE 1 are represented
in FIGURES 6a (Clovis sites) and 6b (Folsom sites).
The calibrated values have be2n expressed at
the *lo level (dark bands) and k2o level (light
bands) with outer intersectio rls being repre-
sented as lines and open rectangles. To evalu-
ate the degree of overlap between these two
calibrated data-sets, FIGURE 7 presents the
summed probability distributions for the com-
bined Clovis (solid line) and Folsom (dashed
line) data-sets from TABLE 1 iising the same
methodology that generated FIGURE 5. Neither
the combined Clovis data-set nor the Folsom
data-set are from a single sample population
as shown by the test statistic T where T = 33.5
and 36.3 respectively, withX2(.$15) = 16.9 (Ward
& Wilson 1978). Using Bayesian theory, in this
case with a uniform prior probability, the in-
dividual probability distributions may be
summed to provide a best estimate for the
chronological distribution of the items dated
(Buck et al. 1991).
For all but a few of the youn,gest Folsom 14C
values, calibration depends on paired U/Th and
14C data from coral samples. Because of this,
there are significant limitations in the degree
of temporal resolution possible with these data.
Corals grow in the mixed layer of the ocean
where 14C changes in the oceanic mixed layer
are smoothed by attenuation of the atmospheric
I4C signal. A constant average j4C offset (R) or
reservoir deficiency of 400 years has been ap-
CLOVIS AND FOLSOM AGE ESTIMATES: STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT AND RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION
523
FIGURE 7. Summed
probability distri-
butions for the Clovis
(solid) and Folsom
(dashed) datasets
listed in TABLE 1 and
FIGURES 6a 6.6b. The
basis on which the
distributions have
been calculated are
the same as noted for
FIGURE 5.
calibrated (calendar) age BC
0.025
0 020
x
P
Y
.r(
I .3
2 0.015
k
b)
0.005
0 .ooo
14,000 13,000 12,000 11,000 10,000
calibrated (calendar) age BP
plied to the coral data. The atmospheric data-
set obtained in this manner from coral data is
the smoothed oceanic version, offset by 400 years.
The assumption of a constant reservoir de-
ficiency is a first order approximation only. The
actual reservoir deficiency may differ regionally
as well as over time, since the contours of the
atmospheric and mixed layer signals may dif-
fer. As a world-wide general average, the 400-
year offset value appears to be a reasonable
estimate. For the time-period with which we
are concerned, ice-layer counting yields results
which come within a few centuries of that ob-
tained from the coral data (Stuiver et al. 1995).
The possibility of regional coral 14C reservoir
age differences currently limits the resolution
of the pre-dendrochronological calibration data.
In further considering these data, no error
multiplier factors have been applied to the
calibrated I4C values used in FIGURES 5, 6 & 7.
These 14C values have been obtained from a
number of laboratories over a period of more than
two decades. Published data do not permit a pre-
cise calculation of their error multiplier factors.
If an overall average error multiplier of 1.8 would
be applied, this would widen the distributions
and make the offset between the two suites of 14C
values less significant.
Conclusion
On the basis of stratigraphic evidence obtained
from a number of sites, the latest North Ameri-
can Clovis occupation predates the earliest
occurrence of Folsom. With no means of cali-
brating earlier than the youngest Folsom-asso-
ciated I4C values, concern has been expressed
that the degree of overlap indicated by conven-
tional 14C values may not accurately reflect the
actual, real-time situation.
The development of U/Th-based calibration
allows this question now to be addressed. We
have used this data-base to calibrate, using the
CALIB protocols, two sets of Clovis and Folsom
I4C values. The first involves a comprehensive
list of published values, and the second a set
of Clovis and Folsom I4C age determinations
that, in our view, are least problematic in terms
of sample material and most secure in terms of
stratigraphic context. In both cases, summed
probability distributions for the combined Clovis
and Folsom values were developed. The dif-
ferences between these two representations
reveals the importance of critically evaluating
the stratigraphic and physiochemical integrity
of the Clovis/Folsom 14C data. In presenting the
calibrated Clovis and Folsom values, we rec-
ognize the possibility of regional coral 14C res-
524
R.E. TAYLOR, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR & MINZE STUIVER
ervoir age differences and variable 'error mul-
tiplier' factors that limit the interpretation of
the results. These initial results are first-order
approximations only. As more calibration curve
detail becomes available, the representations
of the probability distributions will require
revision.
It appears that the transition from Clovis to
Folsom may have occurred within a period of
100 years or less (Haynes 1984). In our view,
the existing corpus of Clovis and Folsom I4C
age-estimates does not have the precision re-
quired to test this assertion (Haynes 1991). One
means of critically testing this hypothesis would
be a series of high-precision (<+30 yr l o vari-
ance] I4C values obtained on carefully pretreated,
biochemically characterized samples collected
from geologically well-documented stratigraphic
profiles at multi-component sites containing
Clovis and Folsom levels. Once the problems
with biochemically-degraded bone are resolved
(Stafford et al. 1991; 1992; Taylor 1992), direct
I4C determinations on bone with low and trace
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