If you in any doubt, have a look at JDK source code
ArrayList.clear() source code:
public void clear() {
modCount++;
// Let gc do its work
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
elementData[i] = null;
size = 0;
}
You will see that size is set to 0 so you start from 0 position.
Please note that when adding elements to ArrayList, the backend array is extended (i.e. array data is copied to bigger array if needed) in order to be able to add new items. When performing ArrayList.clear() you only remove references to array elements and sets size to 0, however, capacity stays as it was.