The earliest inhabitants of the Great Lakes area likely revisited a specific campsite in southwest Michigan over multiple years, according to a recent study from the University of Michigan.
The earliest inhabitants of the Great Lakes area likely revisited a specific campsite in southwest Michigan over multiple years, according to a study from the University of Michigan.
Previously, there was no indication that Clovis people had established a settlement in the Great Lakes region. These early groups appeared in North America around 13,000 years ago, during a geological period known as the Pleistocene, when vast glaciers covered much of the land, rendering areas like Michigan unsuitable for human habitation. However, a study in 2021 by the University of Michigan uncovered evidence of a camp site called the Belson site in southwest Michigan created by Clovis peoples.
Current research by the same team has provided evidence that these Clovis people likely visited the Belson site each summer for a duration of at least three years, and possibly as long as five years, as indicated by lead author Brendan Nash, a doctoral archaeology student. Artifacts found at the site indicate that their diet included a diverse range of animals, such as rabbits and musk ox. The study’s findings have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.
At the Belson site, researchers found tools crafted from a type of stone called chert, sourced from western Kentucky, which is approximately 400 miles from the site. The tools were reshaped on-site, leaving behind small fragments for analysis by researchers.
Thomas Talbot, an independent researcher who discovered the first Clovis point at the Belson site in Mendon, Michigan, in 2008, is involved in analyzing the chert used for the tools. He identified some of the chert fragments as being from Paoli chert, which originated in northeastern Kentucky.
“It took me a year to identify it, and when I did, it was very surprising,” Talbot said. “We also discovered a broken base, which is termed a diagnostic. The broken base was made from that Paoli material. After reviewing the paper, data, and maps, interesting patterns are beginning to emerge,” he added.
The tools from Kentucky were likely traded to people residing in central Indiana, who transported them to the Belson site. According to Nash, this implies that those who settled at Belson probably made their way there during the summer, while spending winters in central Indiana. They likely traded for tools from western Kentucky from populations that traversed between central Indiana and Kentucky on annual routes.
“In this manner, there existed ‘links in a chain’ with yearly routes that likely connected the entire continent, from Michigan to Mexico,” Nash explained. “This may explain why Clovis period technology shows such similarities throughout most of North America.”
The Clovis period is noted for its unique spear points, which feature a distinct central channel along the length of the tool, known as a flute. Clovis people used this flute to attach a shaft to the spearhead, creating composite hunting weapons effective for hunting various prey. Additionally, the Clovis culture is recognized for their technique of striking off large flakes from stone to craft their points, yielding pieces with sharp edges that could serve as knives.
While the exact origin of Clovis technology within the Americas remains unclear, it rapidly spread once it was established, as evidenced by archaeological findings. Researchers believe that Clovis peoples were among the first to settle in the Americas, and before the 2021 study, there was no documentation of Clovis technology in the Great Lakes region.
Talbot discovered the first Clovis point in a Belson farm field in 2008. He recognized it as a Clovis point due to its distinctive shape and because it was made from Attica chert, a stone found about 120 miles away in western Indiana and eastern Illinois. Talbot validated his discovery with U-M archaeologist Henry Wright.
In 2017, Wright and Talbot revisited the site, finding completed tools and small chert flakes, leading them to suspect that people had actually lived there rather than merely leaving behind tools as they passed through. Their 2021 study described findings from surface sampling conducted at the site.
The current research delves into excavations of buried flakes—pieces of stone left over from the Clovis people while they were sharpening or crafting their tools—and other tools found deep in the sediments that were less affected by the plowing of the field.
The researchers analyzed three of the many discovered stone tools for traces of animal protein. They found evidence of musk ox, caribou or deer, hare, and peccary, the latter being a Pleistocene relative of the pig. Interestingly, the hare and peccary protein were discovered on the same Clovis point, according to Nash.
“The evidence suggests that these groups had a diverse diet, consuming many types of animals,” Nash noted. “This challenges the common perception that Clovis people primarily hunted large game, like mammoths and mastodons.”
Nash believes Clovis society would also have consumed plants, although plant remains do not typically survive over 13,000 years, unlike animal bones which can. “This site provides insights into a way of life that has been lost to history,” Nash concluded. “By analyzing the stone sources and tool styles, we can trace a group of people as they adapted and traveled across the diverse landscapes of the American Midwest during the Pleistocene.”
Alongside Wright and Talbot, co-authors of the study include former U-M graduate student Elliot Greiner and Linda Scott Cummings from the PaleoResearch Institute in Colorado.
