FOLSOM COMPLEX

an early archaeological complex of North America characterized by a distinct leaf-shaped projectile point called a Folsom point. The Folsom complex of artifacts, which also includes a variety of scrapers, knives, and blades, was one variety of the Paleo-Indian hunting cultures; it centred in the Great Plains, beginning sometime prior to 10,000 BC, and involved the hunting of large animals, now mostly extinct. Much of the importance of the Folsom complex derives from the fact that the initial discovery at Folsom, N.M., in 1926 marked the first association in the Americas of man-made artifacts with the bones of long-extinct mammalian forms. Similar associations were also found at such locations as the Lindenmeier site in eastern Colorado (see also Clovis complex). The classic Folsom point is a more or less leaf-shaped, or lanceolate, point with a concave base, projecting ears at the basal corners, and fluted sides. In addition, the Folsom complex includes unfluted points, blunt-tipped knives, scrapers, and bone tools. Most Folsom artifacts have been discovered in various parts of the Great Plains. The majority of datable artifacts seem to fall in the period between 9000 and 8000 BC.