Conclusions on the diet of Clovis people have so far been created due to misinterpretation of the locality of points when compared to megafaunal remains. This calls for a reevaluation of the specialized hunting theory in order to obtain a better grasp as to the lifestyle that the Clovis people lived. This analysis primarily relies upon reevaluating other studies and biases that have disfigured the findings and have painted a picture that doesn’t hold true to the likely reality.
Fluted Point Kill Sites
Since fluted points arose in all corners of North America at around the same time period and were, in the beginning, found with the remains of extinct large animals, it has been assumed that they were specialized in big game hunting. But, in reality, this has been based upon searching for remains and then attributing the artifacts to those sites rather than the other way around which created disproportion of kill sites to non-kill sites. Small animals and flora have also been underrepresented due to their low preservation and discovery rate.
The theory behind specialization also doesn’t live up to par as other evidence and the use of logic is brought to light. As David Metzler points out in his work Kostenki to Clovis, specialization generally occurs when groups are, “in restricted environmental settings”, who rely on a prey that is abundant, renewable, reliable, and low-risk. Therefore, in a landscape that has a range of different ecological zones and resources, it would be illogical for a people to subsist on one resource.