What happened
Named for finds near Clovis, New Mexico, the culture is known from fluted projectile points used to hunt large Ice Age game across much of North America. Its remains appear over a wide area within a few centuries.
Background
Clovis flourished as the last Ice Age waned and megafauna such as mammoths still roamed. For decades the Clovis-first model held that these were the earliest Americans.
Consequences
Pre-Clovis sites such as Monte Verde have since shown that people arrived earlier, overturning the Clovis-first model. Clovis remains a landmark of early American archaeology all the same.