In the classification of

Archaeological cultures of North America Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

, the term Plainview points refer to Paleoindian

projectile point In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...

s dated between 10,000 and 9,000

Before Present Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Beca ...

. The point was named in 1947 after the discovery of a large cache of unfluted, lanceolate spear tips with concave bases that were found in a ''

Bison antiquus ''Bison antiquus'', the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. It was one of the most common large herbivores on the North American continent dur ...

'' kill site along the

Running Water Draw Running Water Draw is an ephemeral watercourse about long, heading about west-northwest of Clovis, New Mexico, and trending generally east-southeast, into Texas, to join Callahan Draw at the head of the White River about west of Floydada and ...

river, near the town of Plainview in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. The point is found primarily throughout the

South Plains The South Plains is a region in northwest Texas, consisting of 24 counties. The main crop is cotton. Counties The South Plains region includes 24 counties: The northernmost four (Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe) are also considered to be p ...

, however, this range may sometimes be misidentified, as "Plainview" was previously used as a general term to describe unfluted lanceolate points throughout the entirety of the Plains, as well as the eastern

Upper Mississippi Valley The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River. History In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the U ...

Classification

The classification of the Plainview point was made in 1947 by Glen Evans, G. E. Meade and E. H. Sellards for a cache of unfluted, lanceolate spear tips with concave bases found at an archaeological site along the

river near the town of Plainview in

. At least twenty-eight specimens were recovered from this location, which was the site of a ''

'' kill. Plainview was previously used as a general term to describe unfluted lanceolate points throughout the entirety of the Plains as well as the eastern

whereby points were classified as Plainview sub types. However this approach was later rejected and revised leading to new projectile point classifications. The

Golondrina point Golondrina points (formerly Plainview Golondrina) are lanceolate spear or dart projectile points, of medium size, dated to the transitional Paleo-Indian Period, between 9000–7000 BP. Golondrina points were attached on split-stem hafts and ma ...

(formally Plainview Golondrina) was one of these types mistakenly named as Plainview.

Description

Plainview is described as having parallel or convex sides with a concave base. It is considered to be a

Plano point In archaeology, Plano point is flaked stone projectile points and tools created by the various Plano cultures of the North American Great Plains between 9000 BC and 6000 BC for hunting, and possibly to kill other humans. They are bifacially work ...

Comparison with other projectile points

Plainview is stylistically and morphologically similar to the

Goshen point The Goshen point is a medium-sized, lanceolate-shaped, Paleo-Indian projectile point with a straight or concave base. It exhibits characteristic fine flaking. The point was named in 1988 by George C. Frison after the discovery of specimens at the ...

, although these types are primarily concentrated in the northern Plains and may precede Plainview by almost a thousand years.

Plainview complex

Plainview complex, distinguished by the Plainview point, is similar to the Goshen complex. Due to the diversity of points found at the

type site In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron A ...

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,194. Geography Plainview is located at (34.191204, –101.718806) and is located on the Llano Estacado. According ...

, the complex has been widely interpreted, and may be grouped with Agate Basin, Firstview, Golondrina, and Milnesand points. Plainview kill and butchering sites are found in New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.Gunnerson, James H. (1987). Archaeology of the High Plains. Denver: United States Forest Service. pp. 18-21.

References

{{Indigenous People of CO Projectile points +1 Native American history of Colorado Hunter-gatherers of the United States Prehistoric cultures in Colorado Pre-Columbian cultures Pre-Columbian projectile points