This document discusses the peopling of the Americas based on evidence from archaeological sites in the Great Plains region. It describes early Paleoindian sites such as Folsom and Clovis sites that date back over 11,000 years. Some sites in the Great Plains, including the Kanorado locality in Kansas, contain artifacts and deposits that may predate Clovis culture and indicate human presence prior to 11,500 years ago. Further systematic study of pre-Clovis age deposits is needed to better understand the early colonization of the Great Plains.

1. Peopling of the Americas:
Evidence from the Great Plains
Dr. Rolfe D. Mandel
Executive Director, Odyssey Program
Kansas Geological Survey
University of Kansas

2. The Folsom Site, 1927

3. Folsom Projectile Point embedded in skeletal remains of extinct bison at
the Folsom site

4. During his tenure at the University of Kansas during the late 1800s and early 1900s,
Williston served as a professor of geology and anatomy, and as the first dean of the
school of medicine.

5. The Twelve Mile Creek Site, Logan County, Kansas
In 1895, 30 years before the discovery at Folsom, two of Williston’s
assistants, H.T. Martin and T.R. Overton, found a small fluted point in
direct association with a complete bison skeleton.

8. The Twelve Mile Creek Site revisited.

9. Folsom:
10,300-10,700 Radiocarbon years before present

10. The Clovis Gravel Pit – Looking Southeast
South Bank

11. The Clovis site

12. Mammoth vertebra and Clovis point (note the base of the point sticking
out below and left of the bone) in spring sands; from 1933 excavation.

14. Folsom:
10,300-10,700 Radiocarbon years before present
Clovis:
11,600-10,700 Radiocarbon years before present

15. Were people in the Americas before
Clovis time, i.e., earlier than 11,600
radiocarbon years ago?

16. Monte Verde in southern Chili has
archaeological materials dating to
12,500 radiocarbon years ago.

17. Dillehay et al. 2008

18. Pre-Clovis tool kit from the Monte Verde site

19. • Acceptance of the Monte Verde
site in southern Chile, dating to
at least 12,500 14C yr B.P. opens
new pre-Clovis possibilities for
North America.

20. • What was the Spatial Pattern
of Paleoindian Colonization of the
Great Plains?
• When did People arrive in
the Great Plains?

21. • Several sites in the Geat Plains hold
potential pre-11,500 14C evidence.
These include La Sena, Nebraska;
Lovewell and Kanarado, Kansas; and
Burnham, Oklahoma.

27. A refit of four mammoth femur segments showing
the point of impact

28. Negative cone of percussion at the point of impact
on thick cortical mammoth femur segment

37. Tip of highly polished bone artifact

38. Flaked bone biface

39. Bone flakes produced on thick cortical mammoth bone. The flakes refit.

42. 18,250 ± 90

43. • If any of these or other sites
yield unequivocal pre-11,500
evidence of human activity, then
our perspectives on Paleoindian
archaeology in the Plains region
will be significantly altered.

44. • The only effective way to evaluate
the possibility of pre-11,500 evidence
is to systematically study deposits
and soils of the appropriate age in
settings which would have been
conducive to human settlement
and other activities.

47. 10,050 ± 70

50. 9015±100
10,215±115
12,525±100
12,600±90

53. 8240 ± 70
9700 ± 70
10,130 ± 80
11,550 ± 100
13,300 ± 130

55. 14SN105 14SN101
14SN106

56. 14SN101
14SN105
14SN106
Site Locations at the Kanorado Locality

58. Area C Area A Area B
Site 14SN105, Areas A, B and C

59. K. Don Lindsey at the Kanorado
Excavation, 1976

60. 1976 Excavation of Lower Mammoth at the
Kanorado Locality

61. Cobble
1976 Mammoth Excavation
Note Large Cobble in Fine-grained Sediments

62. Mammoth Radius from the 1981 Excavation
Note Spiral Fractures

63. Rib Mid-section from the 1981 Excavation
Note Heavy Wear and High Polish on Right

64. Faceted Mammoth Cortical Limb Bone Fragment
From the Upper Mammoth Level, 1981

65. Jack Hofman pointing out in situ camel elements
at the base of a buried A horizon, 2001

66. Mammoth
Camel Excavation Excavation
Kanorado Locality Excavations, June 2002

67. Excavation of Camelops Elements in Base of Buried A
Horizon

68. Artifacts Eroding out of Buried A Horizon in Area C, 14SN105
Four Artifacts on Left are Alibates and Artifact on Right is
Flattop Chalcedony

69. Site 14SN105, Area A

70. 2003 Excavation in Lower Mammoth Level

71. Lower Mammoth/Camel Bone Level, June 2003

72. Spirally Fractured Ribs from Lower Mammoth Level

73. 12,215 ± 35

74. 9240±70
9750±70
10,370±20 Folsom
Component
10,950±60 Clovis
Component
Lower Mammoth/Camel
12,375±35 Bone Bed
14SN105, Area A

75. 14SN101
14SN105
14SN106
Site Locations at the Kanorado Locality

76. Site 14SN101

78. Flake
Clovis-Age Component, 14SN101

79. Alibates Tools From Clovis-Age Component, 14SN101

80. Bison humerus 20 cm above Clovis-Age Component

81. 14SN101
14SN105
14SN106
Site Locations at the Kanorado Locality

82. Site 14SN106

84. Folsom
Component
Clovis-Age
11,085 ± 20
Component

85. Artifacts in the Clovis-Age Component at the Bottom
of the Akb2 Horizon, Site 14SN106

86. Endscraper Made on a Pristmatic Blade, Clovis-Age
Component, Site 14SN106

87. Folsom Endscraper, Hartville Chert, Site 14SN106

88. Folsom point tip (top images) and the base of a Midland
point (bottom images) recovered in the main block at
14SN106.

89. Folsom Endscraper, Hartville Chert, Site 14SN106

91. 10,854 ± 40

92. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE KANORADO
LOCALITY
 First in situ Folsom site in the Central
Plains

First in situ Clovis sites in the Central
 Plains
 Possible pre-Clovis cultural deposits
Evidence for long-distance transport of
Lithic materials

93. Kanorado

94. Scheuerman
Mammoth Site
Scott County

95. Scheuerman
Mammoth Site

100. 13,470 ± 40

101. • Currently, there are multiple
models that can account for the
peopling of the Great Plains, and
the possibility that this peopling
process occurred prior to Clovis
time remains open.