In the classification of Archaeological cultures of North America, the term Plainview points refer to

Paleoindian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

projectile point In 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 been kept in the ...

s dated between 10,000 and 9,000

Before Present Before Present (BP) or "years before present (YBP)" 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. Because ...

. 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'' is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene from over 60,000 years ago until around 10,000 years ago. ''Bison antiquus'' was one of the most common large herbivores in North America d ...

'' kill site along the Running Water Draw river, near the town of Plainview in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. The point is found primarily throughout the

South Plains The South Plains is a region in northwest Texas, United States, consisting of 24 counties. Counties The South Plains region includes 24 counties: The northernmost four (Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe) also form part of the Texas Panhand ...

, 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.

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 Running Water Draw 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 Upper Mississippi Valley 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 (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 points are 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 w ...

Comparison with other projectile points

Plainview is stylistically and morphologically similar to the Goshen point, 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 (American English) or type-site (British English) 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 H ...

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,187 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe establ ...

, 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, state=expanded Projectile points +1 Native American history of Texas Hunter-gatherers of the United States Hale County, Texas Pre-Columbian cultures