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SIERRA VISTA - An important fossil and archaeological site within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area has just been nationally recognized for its special scientific values. The Murray Springs Clovis Site has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Murray Springs, located in southeastern Arizona, is one of the best-dated Paleoindian sites in North America. It is also one of the most significant Clovis sites, providing evidence of the earliest well-documented culture in the Americas. The 13,000-year-old site contains a multiple bison kill, a mammoth kill, and possibly a horse kill in a deeply stratified sedimentary context.

Several thousand stone tools and waste flakes from their manufacture were found along with the bones of late Pleistocene animals. Murray Springs has been called the largest single sample of Clovis flint knapping activity yet known in the western United States.

For a list of all 26 national historic landmarks, visit the Department of the Interior website.