The first Americans were nomadic hunters of grass-eating animals who, evidently, came in groups hunting their prey cooperatively. They entered an area that was ecologically similar to the one they left. Once in North America the animals and people quickly spread throughout the continent. The most feasible route was down the Mackenzie Valley, which was broad and free of ice 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. Down this corridor the animals that preceded people might have overrun the continent in an incredibly short time, perhaps only a few hundred years. It is conservatively estimated that people would have reached the tip of South America in 5,000 years by families expanding their range only a few miles a year. Sites 10,000 years old are found throughout North and South America.
Prehistoric People in Colorado
The early date for Paleo-Indians in Colorado is at least 10000 B.C. During this time the climate of Colorado was colder than present; no great ice-masses covered the state, but there were huge glaciers in the higher mountain valleys. During this time Colorado was the habitat of many large animals (including mammoths, horses, camels, giant bison, and ground sloth) that later became extinct. Paleo-Indians were skilled hunters of the largest animals and also utilized the more familiar animals found here today.
Clovis Culture
At the Dent site (near Greeley), extinct mammoth bones were found associated with Clovis type projectile points. The date for this site has been established at 9200 B.C. A dozen mammoths were killed here having been driven over a cliff and attacked with boulders and spears. Clovis points were apparently specifically designed to kill mammoths as they are usually found in association with each other.
Folsom Culture
Mammoths became extinct about 9000 B.C. and people turned to the giant bison for their main supply of food. The original Folsom site in New Mexico had a projectile point embedded between the ribs of a giant bison. This was an important direct association between Paleo-Indians and the extinct animal form. The distinctive Folsom projectile point is shorter (2" compared to 4" to 5" for Clovis points) and thinner than Clovis. The most obvious characteristic the Folsom and Clovis have in common is the way they are fluted. A flute is a channel that extends a third or more of the point's length. The flute may have served the purpose of increasing the rate of bleeding or may have made the point easier to fit into the split end of a wooden shaft. The edges of the points were often ground down for a distance equal to the length of the flute. This would keep the sharp edges from cutting the sinew lashing used to mount the point to the shaft.
The largest and most important Folsom site in Colorado is on the Lindenmeir Ranch, to the north of Fort Collins. It is radiocarbon dated at 8820 B.C. Tools found included stone knives, scrapers, gravers, and choppers. Bone artifacts included awls, knives, and beads.
The bison hunting tradition continued with the giant bison (Bison Antiques) being replaced about 7000 BC by smaller bison (Bison Occidentalis and Bison Bison). The extinction of the larger species is attributed to the climatic conditions becoming warmer/drier and the pressure put on them by the hunters.
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