AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CLOVIS BLADE TECHNOLOGY AT THUNDERBIRD (44WR11), A PALEOLITHIC STRATIFIED SITE OF THE FLINT RUN COMPLEX, WARREN COUNTY, VA

Abstract

The presence of Paleoindians in the Eastern United States at the end of the Pleistocene has been a focus of scientific examination for more than a century, resulting in the discovery of numerous sites. These sites, occupied more than ten millennia ago, are extremely rare, and even more so in an undisturbed context. The Flint Run Complex in Northern Virginia contains not one, but several Late Pleistocene and Holocene open-air stratified Paleoindian sites. Thunderbird (44WR11) is the main site within the complex with evidence of human occupation in the region at around 9,990 BP. Numerous tools were recovered which fit the Clovis technocomplex and extensive analysis has been performed on bifacial technology at the site. Additionally, the identification of blades at Thunderbird would support previous assertions that the site was an important refugia on a migratory pattern where scheduled resource exploitation and toolkit refurbishments took place as part of seasonal rounds. How does the analysis of lithic blade production at the Thunderbird site (44WR11) refine our understanding of localized seasonal migration and exploitation of local resources among Paleoindian people of the Shenandoah River Valley. Confirmation of blades and their use would indicate a more robust exploitation of the region’s natural resources and reinforce previous assessments of the importance of Thunderbird as a sedentary seasonal base camp. Through the examination of 324 lithic artifacts from the site, this study seeks to identify the presence of a concerted blade manufacturing technology where it was believed one did not exist, and better understand the behaviors tied to those tools. Blades are a known part of the Clovis toolkit and have been found at sites across the United States. The identification of blades at Thunderbird will provide an expanded understating of the Clovis toolkit, the spread of blade technology, and of Paleoindian lifeways in the Middle Atlantic region.