Dan Flores

Beneath my fingers I could feel an irregular surface made so by labor-intensive flaking to create a pointed blade that dwindled to a remarkably thin base. The delicacy of that base was a result of matching flutes skillfully popped from the flint on both sides. In that first summer of digging, Figgesen's paleontologists had unearthed two of these points in the loose dirt of the site.

Beneath my fingers I could feel an irregular surface made so by labor-intensive flaking to create a pointed blade that dwindled to a remarkably thin base. The delicacy of that base was a result of matching flutes skillfully popped from the flint on both sides. In that first summer of digging, Figgesen's paleontologists had unearthed two of these points in the loose dirt of the site.

Eventually, the Denver team would find eight of these stunning fluted points scattered amongst the bones. But it wasn't just the bones and not the points that made fulsome what American Museum of Natural History scientist Henry Fairfield Osborne labeled the greatest event in American discoveries.

Eventually, the Denver team would find eight of these stunning fluted points scattered amongst the bones. But it wasn't just the bones and not the points that made fulsome what American Museum of Natural History scientist Henry Fairfield Osborne labeled the greatest event in American discoveries.

Eventually, the Denver team would find eight of these stunning fluted points scattered amongst the bones. But it wasn't just the bones and not the points that made fulsome what American Museum of Natural History scientist Henry Fairfield Osborne labeled the greatest event in American discoveries.

When the second season crew at Folsom flicked the dirt from the ribs of an extinct bison, they were greeted by the sight of one of these fluted points embedded to two-thirds its length in the bone. The bar for proof that humans were part of the American Pleistocene had always been an extinct animal, preserving evidence that as a living creature, it had been killed by human technology.

When the second season crew at Folsom flicked the dirt from the ribs of an extinct bison, they were greeted by the sight of one of these fluted points embedded to two-thirds its length in the bone. The bar for proof that humans were part of the American Pleistocene had always been an extinct animal, preserving evidence that as a living creature, it had been killed by human technology.

When the second season crew at Folsom flicked the dirt from the ribs of an extinct bison, they were greeted by the sight of one of these fluted points embedded to two-thirds its length in the bone. The bar for proof that humans were part of the American Pleistocene had always been an extinct animal, preserving evidence that as a living creature, it had been killed by human technology.

Now outside the tiny burg of Folsom, New Mexico, that bar was hurdled. America, too, had an antiquity. How much of an antiquity was still in question because radiocarbon dating was yet three decades in the future. Figgins claimed the site was 400,000 years old.

Now outside the tiny burg of Folsom, New Mexico, that bar was hurdled. America, too, had an antiquity. How much of an antiquity was still in question because radiocarbon dating was yet three decades in the future. Figgins claimed the site was 400,000 years old.

Now outside the tiny burg of Folsom, New Mexico, that bar was hurdled. America, too, had an antiquity. How much of an antiquity was still in question because radiocarbon dating was yet three decades in the future. Figgins claimed the site was 400,000 years old.

Eventually, archaeology and paleontology would agree that on an October day, a band of three dozen humans had driven into a box canyon, killed and butchered 32 giant bison of the species Bison Antiquus in the spot where I was now standing, and they had done this 12,450 years ago. No one knows now what these ancient bison hunters call themselves or their weapons.

Eventually, archaeology and paleontology would agree that on an October day, a band of three dozen humans had driven into a box canyon, killed and butchered 32 giant bison of the species Bison Antiquus in the spot where I was now standing, and they had done this 12,450 years ago. No one knows now what these ancient bison hunters call themselves or their weapons.

Eventually, archaeology and paleontology would agree that on an October day, a band of three dozen humans had driven into a box canyon, killed and butchered 32 giant bison of the species Bison Antiquus in the spot where I was now standing, and they had done this 12,450 years ago. No one knows now what these ancient bison hunters call themselves or their weapons.

Their beautiful fluted points were likely attached to darts thrown by at-attles or spear throwers. But not knowing much about these early Americans didn't prevent the scientists from naming both the points and the people Folsom after the nearby town. Yet Folsom wasn't the book of Genesis for America's human history. Six years after the Folsom discovery, there was another dramatic revelation.

Their beautiful fluted points were likely attached to darts thrown by at-attles or spear throwers. But not knowing much about these early Americans didn't prevent the scientists from naming both the points and the people Folsom after the nearby town. Yet Folsom wasn't the book of Genesis for America's human history. Six years after the Folsom discovery, there was another dramatic revelation.

Their beautiful fluted points were likely attached to darts thrown by at-attles or spear throwers. But not knowing much about these early Americans didn't prevent the scientists from naming both the points and the people Folsom after the nearby town. Yet Folsom wasn't the book of Genesis for America's human history. Six years after the Folsom discovery, there was another dramatic revelation.

Out on the featureless sweeps of the southern Great Plains, an ordinary gravel excavation near a tiny farming town named Clovis exposed the bones of long-extinct American elephants, a remarkable 28 of them. Science and the reading public knew that America had harbored various kinds of giant elephants in the deep past.

Out on the featureless sweeps of the southern Great Plains, an ordinary gravel excavation near a tiny farming town named Clovis exposed the bones of long-extinct American elephants, a remarkable 28 of them. Science and the reading public knew that America had harbored various kinds of giant elephants in the deep past.

Out on the featureless sweeps of the southern Great Plains, an ordinary gravel excavation near a tiny farming town named Clovis exposed the bones of long-extinct American elephants, a remarkable 28 of them. Science and the reading public knew that America had harbored various kinds of giant elephants in the deep past.