Folsom complex

Ancient North American culture

Folsom complex, an early archaeological complex of North America, characterized by a distinct leaf-shaped projectile point called a Folsom point. The Folsom complex of artifacts, which also includes a variety of scrapers, knives, and blades, was one variety of the Paleo-Indian hunting cultures. It centred in the Great Plains and persisted from approximately 9000 to 8000 bce. Folsom people were generalized hunters and gatherers, although they also hunted a now-extinct form of giant bison (Bison antiquus). Much of the importance of the Folsom complex derives from the fact that the initial scholarly excavation at Folsom, N.M., in 1926 (the site was discovered in 1908), marked the first association in the Americas of man-made artifacts with the bones of megafauna from the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago); until this discovery, scholarly consensus had held that humans did not reach the Americas until perhaps 4,000 years ago. (See also Clovis complex.)

The classic Folsom point is more or less leaf-shaped, or lanceolate, with a concave base, projecting ears at the basal corners, and fluted sides. In addition, the Folsom complex includes unfluted points, blunt-tipped knives, scrapers, and bone tools. Most Folsom artifacts have been discovered in various parts of the Great Plains. The majority of datable artifacts seem to fall in the period between 9000 and 8000 bce.

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