Bifacial chipped stone points, functioning as projectiles and knives, are present in Clovis lithic assemblages recovered from archaeological sites across North America. These points vary in shape and size, and this variation appears to be patterned geographically. Explanations for such patterning are a major topic of debate among specialists focused on Paleoindian lithic technology, including discussions about mobility and adaptations to local ecosystems, as well as evolutionary mechanisms such as cultural drift. Alan Slade has contributed positively to this research through this volume, which was published in 2020 but based on his master's thesis (completed in 2010) and his MPhil thesis (completed in 2018) at the University of Southampton in the UK.

Slade considers evidence for variation in Clovis point morphology across North America and asks whether any patterns apparent in his results can be explained by toolstone availability specific to each site and region. His dataset was collected during a period spanning many years, and it includes caliper measurements and landmark geometric morphometric data, as well as visual observations of qualitative characteristics of complete and fragmented Clovis points. A large portion of the dataset derives from several well-dated archaeological sites spanning the North American continent. In that respect, Slade's study is similar to previous continental-scale studies of Clovis point morphology, but it also considers isolated surface finds of Clovis points and others from private collections not associated with reliable chronological or contextual information.

The manuscript opens with a literature review concerning the beginnings of Clovis archaeology and previous investigations of Clovis point morphology. The following chapter describes the distribution of Clovis points by organizing North America into regions composed of clusters of states, which also serves, methodologically, as the organizational schema for testing for variation in point shape within and between sites and regions. This chapter includes a discussion of various site types and their regional distribution. Slade uses multiple methods of data collection and statistical tests to address a series of research questions meant to develop an understanding of the relationship between geographical patterns of Clovis point morphology and raw material use. He presents results of a traditional metric analysis, based on measurements taken with handheld calipers and qualitative data on point shape and raw material type, and geometric morphometric shape analysis using landmark coordinate data to summarize the shape of artifacts into principal components. He also outlines his findings from multivariate analysis of variance tests using principal components to examine whether patterns in shape can be explained by the regional organization.

Chapter 4 provides a detailed synopsis of the origins of lithic raw materials included in the Clovis assemblages from a variety of sites across North America that are organized by the regional scheme noted above. This chapter is a valuable reference for students and scholars of Clovis toolstone use and distribution, and it nicely summarizes raw material movement, featuring information on site types and distance to sources. Caliper measurements and visual observation of morphology enable Slade to organize the points into his own novel morphological categories for comparison.

Chapter 5 summarizes major results and reviews details about which artifacts were appropriate and available for each of the statistical tests outlined in preceding chapters. Discussion in this chapter is organized by site, and Slade reports findings of both inter- and intrasite variation per region.

Overall, Slade's monograph presents one of the first comparisons of both intraregional and intrasite variation in Clovis point morphology at a continental scale. He shows that all of the isolated finds of Clovis points and surface-collected Clovis points can be assigned to his new category representing the classic Clovis form. This important observation demonstrates the influence of collector bias on an entire collection of artifacts—one generated when recognizable Clovis points that fit literature and media descriptions of “Classic Clovis” are collected whereas those that are fragmentary or reworked beyond recognition are overlooked.

Slade has very helpfully organized large amounts of important information about Clovis points in this substantive volume. Patterns in his data are described in the text and presented in graphical form as charts and color maps. In conclusion, the author identifies variation in Clovis-point basal shape, which he uses to propose novel point categories assigned to each region, and finds that this pattern cannot be explained by raw material. Despite variation present in his dataset, Slade finds that point forms are homogenous within regions and that Clovis-point makers were using a great deal of local toolstone, in addition to nonlocal varieties. He also does not find site type to be patterned according to region.

Slade notes that his data collection and analysis led to more questions beyond his primary research goals, allowing him to lay out additional project ideas, such as experimentally testing the influence of raw material type on Clovis point morphology. Discussion and analyses included in Slade's study do not consider the impact of specific site chronologies, which would prove an interesting future facet of this research. As a result of this comprehensive study of Clovis points found across North America, Slade successfully identifies patterns in Clovis point morphology within and between individual sites and regions across the continent, as well as patterns in raw material use that also vary widely among regions.