Biface reduction and blade manufacture at the Gault site (41bl323): a Clovis occupation in Bell County, Texas

Abstract

This dissertation is a technological study that deals with those techniques employed by the Gault Clovis people in the manufacture of both bifaces and blades. The materials studied were recovered during the 2000 and 2001 field seasons conducted by the Anthropology Department of Texas A&M University. The study involves an analysis that deals with raw material selection, blank production, reduction methods, and problems encountered, and includes a definitive description and metric calculations for each of the various artifact types analyzed. The results are then compared to similar artifact assemblages from known Clovis sites. The conclusions derived from this analysis show that the Gault Clovis people utilized a number of different strategies in both biface and blade reduction. It was found that some of these strategies, previously felt to be restricted to one reductive procedure, were connected and utilized in both procedures. In addition, it was discovered that some techniques thought to be limited to use only within the initial reduction sequence were, in fact, utilized throughout.