The Fenn Cache: Artifact #149

The showpiece of the Fenn Cache, this is one of the finest Clovis points ever found. The Clovis were a prehistoric people who flourished in North America at the end of the Ice Age, hunting mammoths and other big game with spear points not unlike this one. To make the point, Clovis knappers used a billet, a hammer of ivory or antler, to flake off pieces of the point through a process known as brittle fracture. This point, crafted from red jasper, reveals an unusual flaking style: its maker struck the point diagonally rather than from side to side, as was the norm.