Clovis Type-Site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico: A History, 1929-2009

Abstract

A brief history is presented along with new archival images of archaeology over the past 80 years at Blackwater Locality No.1, New Mexico, also known as the Clovis “type-site.” Despite a wealth of published information, frequently this site is perceived mainly as a Paleoindian kill/butchery locale. In fact, at Clovis are discrete clusters of occupational debris, including camps, caches, and hand-dug wells around an early post-Pleistocene pond. This spatial diversity is contained in a deeply stratified alluvial/aeolian sequence with well-preserved animal and plant remains spanning the entire Paleoindian period. The Blackwater Draw provided one of the first research venues for geoarchaeology and paleoecology in America. Explorations at Clovis often took place alongside destructive gravel mining. Today, the Clovis site is a model of conservation, research, and public education.