Folsom Fluted Projectile Points East of the Great Plains and Their Biogeographical Correlates

Abstract

It is widely, although erroneously, assumed that Folsom Fluted projectile points are confined to the Plains of western North America. Projectile points morphologically identical to the western forms are relatively common throughout the upper Mississippi drainage basin as far east as eastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. Their distribution east of the Plains coincides closely with the distribution of both prairie-like vegetation and bison at ca. 11,000 B.P., suggesting a similarity in the adaptations of both the eastern and western participants in the Folsom Tradition.