Pan-continental Paleoindian expansions and interactions as viewed from the earliest lithic industries of lower Central America

The historical, biological, technological, and even chronological relationships between North and South American early lithic industries and the humans who manufactured them are still a matter of conjecture. To this day, the Paleoindian records of both continents have remained isolated from each other. Efforts to close this gap have not only been impeded by geographic distance but by an information void as well. One problem has centered on the origin and dispersion of the fluting technique in South America, which is usually associated with the North American Clovis culture (c. 11,500–10,900 14C yr B.P.). The presence of a variety of fluted points in South America has been explained by either a Clovis migration or a diffusion of ideas between Clovis groups and other distinct (culturally and/or biologically) but contemporary Paleoindians. In light of this problem, lower Central America is a most promising area in which to test migration models and hypotheses that address technological similarities among widely dispersed Paleoindian groups such as the fluting technique in South America.; This dissertation presents results of a research project, which incorporated collection analyses as well as fieldwork in Panama. Surveys and excavations which I conducted on the Isthmus located several quarries and workshops exploited by Paleoindians. Most important, however, was the discovery of a fluted point assemblage at the Cueva de Los Vampiros near the Pacific Coast. This occupation marks the third occurrence, between the Rio Grande and Colombia, where diagnostic early Paleoindian artifacts have been found in a buried, datable context.; Comparative technological and morphological analyses revealed that lanceolate fluted points found in Central America and northern South America are best explained by a Clovis expansion as opposed to a passing of ideas through pre-established southern populations. Moreover, technological and stylistic similarities between several Central American fluted points and examples from the Gulf region states indicate that a circum-Gulf and Caribbean network may have existed along the now submerged coastal shelves. It is suggested that the presence of fluted points below the equator can also be explained by a Clovis-related human migration. However, this second radiation followed important technological evolutionary modifications in northern South America where fishtail points may have first appeared.