Clovis Crescents Page 1

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CRESCENTS
PALEO & EARLY ARCHAIC
FAR WESTERN U.S.
9,000 to 5,500 B.C.
PAGE 1 OF 3 PAGES
COPYRIGHT JUNE 30, 2003 PETER A. BOSTROM

STEVE CALIGORE COLLECTION

LUNATE CRESCENT
WYOMING

This crescent was found in 1965 washed out of a bank on a site in Wyoming. A smaller crescent and a Clovis point were also found on the same site. This example is made of translucent chalcedony and measures 1 inch (2.5 cm) long.

ABSTRACT:

CRESCENTS
9,000 TO 5,500 B.C.
FAR WESTERN UNITED STATES

Crescents are currently described as early Stone Age tool types that may have been used as transverse arrow or spear points. Edge wear analysis also indicates that some of them may have been used as scrapers or even as saws (with serrated examples). They are found on many sites in the far western United States but their precise function is not yet completely understood. They are reported to have been found in association with Clovis points and with much later material that is datable to the Early Archaic period. Crescents may have been in use for as long as 3,500 years.

"The Clovis like fluted points in the far west are found along ancient lakeshores, in piedmont zones of former grasslands, and in the mountain passes between fossil lakes. They occur with flaked-stone crescents"---1984, Michael J. Moratto, California Archaeology.

STEVE CALIGORE COLLECTION

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CRESCENTS
BLACK ROCK DESERT--NEVADA

These twelve crescents were found on sites in the Black Rock Desert area in northwestern Nevada. One or two of them might be classified as winged crescents but most of them are good examples of lunate crescents. They are made of various types of good quality chert. The top center crescent is made of agate. The largest one, in the center, measures 2 5/8 inches (6.6 cm) long.

"Crescents are thought to have served multiple functions given the variations in shape that are known, although our knowledge about the actual function of the various types is poor," 2002, Noel D. Justice, Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of California and the Great Basin.

Row of hafted crescents.

PALEO AND EARLY ARCHAIC

CRESCENTS

Crescent is the term used most often to describe these uniquely shaped early tool forms. But in fact, they were actually described and named Great Basin Transverse points by C.W. Clewlow Jr. in 1968. Most crescents are curved with a concave edge on one side and a convex edge on the other so the descriptive word "crescent" is most often used.

FORREST FENN COLLECTION

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LUNATE CRESCENT
FENN CLOVIS CACHE

This is the only crescent that was found in a cache of 56 Clovis artifacts known as the Fenn Clovis cache. It's a very good example of a lunate crescent. This crescent still retained some of the red ochre that coated all but one of the artifacts in the cache. It was made from Green River Formation chert and it measures 2 9/16 inches (6.5 cm) long.

Crescents are found in the far western states of California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Large numbers of them are reportedly found around "fossil" lakes, streams and springs in the Great Basin. Ancient lakes were once common in the Great Basin during a period of post-glacial drying.

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"REFERENCES"

1938, Gladwin, Harold S., "Excavations At Snaketown, Material Culture," p. 107, plate XCII.
1984, Moratto, Michael J., "California Archaeology," pp. 85, 93, 94 & 499.
1985, Perino, Gregory, "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians," p. 92.
1990, Gramly, Richard Michael, "Guide to the Paleo-Indian Artifacts of North America," p. 18.
1999, Frison, George & Bradley, Bruce, "The Fenn Cache Clovis Weapons and Tools," p. 34.
2002, Justice, Noel D., "Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of California and the Great Basin," pp.116-125.

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