ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the finished points and then present the evidence for Folsom point manufacture, as reflected by the preforms and channel flakes. It also discusses the artifact assemblages from the Rio Rancho site in relation to current models of Folsom organization. Although it was excavated more than 30 years ago, the Rio Rancho Folsom site remains poorly known among archaeologists interested in Paleoindian prehistory. Dawson recovered approximately 7400 artifacts from his excavations. The types of artifacts recovered suggest that all four loci are camps occupied shortly after apparently successful hunts. Weapons points and the residue of projectile point manufacture—finished points, preforms, and channel flakes—have been the primary source of information used in the development of models of Folsom technological organization. Channel flake dimensions are available for several Folsom sites on the Plains, and they permit us to compare the Rio Rancho sample.
