The Folsom Complex is a name given by archaeologists to a specific Paleo-Indian archaeological culture

Archaeological culture

An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...

 that occupied much of central North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The term was first used in 1927 by Jesse Dade Figgins, director of the Colorado Museum of Natural History.

Numerous Paleoindian cultures occupied North America, with some restricted to the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

 and Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 of the modern United States of America and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 as well as adjacent areas to the west and south west. The Folsom Tradition was characterised by use of Folsom point

Folsom point

Folsom points are a distinct form of chipped stone projectile points associated with the Folsom Tradition of North America. The style of toolmaking was named after Folsom, New Mexico where the first sample was found within the bone structure of a bison in 1927....

s as projectile tips and activities known from kill sites where slaughter and butchering of bison

Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

 took place and Folsom tools were left behind.

Some kill sites exhibit evidence of up to 50 bison being killed, although the Folsom diet apparently included mountain sheep, marmot

Marmot

The marmots are a genus, Marmota, of squirrels. There are 14 species in this genus.Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Eurasian steppes, Carpathians, Tatras, and Pyrenees in...

s, deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 and cottontail rabbit

Cottontail rabbit

The cottontail rabbits are among the 16 lagomorph species in the genus Sylvilagus, found in the Americas.In appearance, most cottontail rabbits closely resemble the wild European Rabbit...

 as well.

A Folsom site at Hanson, Wyoming also revealed areas of hardstanding which indicate possible dwellings.

The type site

Type site

In archaeology a type site is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture...

 is Folsom Site

Folsom Site

Folsom Site , in Folsom, New Mexico, is the archaeological site that is the type site for the Folsom tradition, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC...

, near Folsom, New Mexico

Folsom, New Mexico

Folsom is a village in Union County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 75 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Frances Folsom, the fiancee of President Grover Cleveland.-Geography:Folsom is located at ....

 in Colfax County (29CX1), a marsh-side kill site found in about 1908 by George McJunkin

George McJunkin

George McJunkin was the African American cowboy in New Mexico who discovered the Folsom Site in 1908.The son of slaves who was born in Midway, Texas, McJunkin was about 14 years old when the Civil War ended. He worked as an oxen driver, working on freighters. He reportedly learned how to read from...

, a cowboy and former slave who had lived in Texas as a child. Archaeologists excavated the site in 1926.

The Folsom Complex is thought to have derived from the earlier Clovis culture

Clovis culture

The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...

 and dates to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC.

The Lindenmeier Site

Lindenmeier Site

The Lindenmeier Site is a stratified multi-component archaeological site most famous for its Folsom component. It is located on the former Lindenmeier Ranch, now the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The site contains the most extensive...

in Colorado is a campsite that was used throughout a longer period, spanning this era.