Clovis and Early Archaic Crania from the Anzick Site (24PA506), Park County, Montana

Abstract

The Anzick archaeological site in Montana, known since 1968, has been recognized since 1974 as Clovis age because of the lithic material recovered. Now it is possible to assert that some, but not all, of the recovered skeletal material is also Clovis age. The site contained more than 100 stone and nonhuman bone artifacts in association with the partial skeletal remains of a young child. All were covered with red ocher. The partial cranium of a second youth, not stained red, was also recovered. Recently, radiocarbon dating of these two crania produced two separate ages, 2000 years apart. Forensic examination of the remains, completed in 1999, has determined their ages at death. This site, an important addition to New World prehistory, contains not only the largest single assemblage of Clovis artifacts but also the only known Clovis skeletal remains.