Tag Archives: Clovis

Did Clovis People Hunt Mammoths or Just Scavenge Their Carcasses?

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For decades, the discovery of a stone spearhead alongside the bones of macrocephalians (such as mammoths, mastodons, and gomphoteles) has been regarded as a monumental milestone in archaeology. This evidence is often cited to support the theory that the Clovis people, America’s earliest well-documented culture, were mega-game hunters who contributed to the extinction of these great beasts approximately 13,000 years ago. A new study challenges these conclusions, suggesting they have not been substantiated and that the evidence portrays a markedly different narrative.

An artist’s reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick 1 infant eating mammoth meat with his mother near a hearth, while another individual crafts tools. A large slaughterhouse is visible nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.

“There are currently 15 well-documented Late Pleistocene regions across North America where Clovis points associated with macrofauna remains have been found,” stated Metin Ellen from Kent State University and co-researchers.

“Archaeologists typically assert that these areas provide evidence that Clovis people hunted these colorful ancient animals, often citing this to argue that humans played a role in the extinction of these large mammals.”

“However, the hypothesis that Clovis people actively hunted these species has not been rigorously investigated, leaving open the possibility that they were primarily scavengers—an idea that could clarify the association between artifacts and proboscidean remains at certain locations.”

In their study, researchers thoroughly reviewed all 15 sites where Clovis stone tools were discovered alongside fossils of mammoths, mastodons, and gomphoteles.

The findings revealed that none of the sites provided definitive proof against scavenging practices, suggesting that archaeologists have often overlooked this possibility.

This issue relates to a phenomenon known as equifinality, where different processes can produce similar traces.

Broken spearheads, butchered carcasses, and cut bones may result from directly killing an animal or processing one that was found dead.

Interestingly, no Clovis point or fragment has ever been discovered embedded in a long skull, which would serve as clear evidence of hunting, akin to findings at some of the largest sites in Eurasia where spear tips remain lodged in ancient animal bones.

A 2024 isotopic analysis of the Clovis-era infant known as the “Anzick Child” from Montana revealed that the mother’s diet positioned her at the apex of the food chain, similar to extinct hypercarnivorous cats, suggesting she consumed large quantities of mammoth meat.

Dr. Ellen and his co-authors contend, however, that this finding is not biologically relevant for humans, as they cannot safely consume such high protein levels.

A more plausible explanation may be that the mother’s diet included maggots sourced from decaying carcasses, which studies indicate contain high levels of nitrogen.

The researchers do not dispute the possibility that Clovis people hunted mammoths; rather, they argue that current evidence cannot conclusively differentiate between hunting and scavenging at individual sites. Thus, the narrative that Clovis mega-fauna hunters led to the extinction of these Ice Age giants is not supported by robust evidence.

“We currently cannot discern archaeological evidence of hunting versus scavenging, so it remains uncertain whether the quantity of Clovis proboscidean remains reflects a hunting event,” said Dr. Ellen.

“While it is likely that Clovis gatherers hunted mammoths, it would be unusual if they were, unlike other historical human populations, exclusively hunters without engaging in scavenging,” added Dr. David Meltzer of Southern Methodist University.

“Scavenging may also clarify the high δ15N values noted for Anzick calves, potentially attributable to the consumption of maggots rather than mammoth meat,” he added.

“If predation and archaeological equivalence prevent a definitive conclusion about proboscidean killing at Clovis sites, then the theory of proboscidean overkill is too weak to support,” Dr. Ellen concluded.

“Despite long-held beliefs among some archaeologists and scientists, there is currently no conclusive evidence supporting the role of humans in the extinction of Late Pleistocene proboscidians in North America.”

For more details, refer to the study published on July 1st in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

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Metin I. Ellen et al. Did the Clovis foragers hunt large animals, scavenge their carrion, or both? And can we distinguish between the two? Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports published on July 1, 2026. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105896

Source: www.sci.news

New study reveals that Clovis people primarily consumed mammoths and other large mammals in their diet

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Paleoanthropologists believe that the Columbian mammoth (mammoth colombi) are the largest contributor to the diet of the Clovis people, the earliest widespread hunter-gatherer group inhabiting North America, followed by elk and bison/camels, but the contribution of small mammals is There were very few.

An artist's reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick 1 infant eating mammoth meat with his mother near the hearth. Another individual crafting tool, such as a dart launch point or an atlatl. A huge slaughterhouse can be seen nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.

The Clovis people lived in North America about 13,000 years ago.

During that time, giant animals such as mammoths lived in both northern Asia and the Americas.

Because they traveled long distances, they became a reliable source of fat and protein for highly mobile humans.

Some researchers argue that the Clovisians were some degree of megafauna experts, with a particular focus on mammoths, while others argue that such adaptations were not viable and therefore They argue that Clovisians were extensive foragers, likely incorporating small amounts of food into their diets on a regular basis. Prey, plants, and perhaps fish.

“Focusing on mammoths helps explain how the Clovis people spread from across North America to South America in just a few hundred years,” said Dr. James Chatters, a researcher at McMaster University. said.

“What's surprising to me is that this corroborates a lot of the data from other sites,” said Ben Potter, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“For example, the animal parts left at the Clovis site are dominated by megafauna, and the firing points are large ones attached to darts, which were effective long-range weapons.”

In the new study, Dr Chatters, Professor Potter and their colleagues used stable isotope analysis to investigate the effects of 18-month-old children found at the 13,000-year-old Clovis site in Anzick, Montana, USA. I modeled the meal. state.

Their findings support the hypothesis that the Clovis people specialized in hunting large animals, rather than primarily foraging on small animals and plants.

Professor Potter said: “Mammoth hunting provided a flexible way of life.”

“This allowed the Clovis people to move to new areas without relying on smaller, localized prey that could vary widely from region to region.”

“This mobility is consistent with what we are seeing with Clovis technology and payment patterns.”

“They were very mobile. They transported resources such as toolstone over hundreds of miles.”

“Isotopes provide a chemical fingerprint of a consumer's diet, and can be compared to the isotopes of potential dietary items to determine the proportional contributions of different dietary items,” said Dr. Matt Wooler of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It can be estimated.”

The researchers compared the mothers' stable isotope fingerprints with those obtained from different food sources from the same time and region.

They found that about 40% of her diet came from mammoths, with other large animals such as elk and bison making up the rest.

Although small mammals were sometimes considered an important food source, they played a very minor role in her diet.

Finally, the scientists compared the mother's diet to that of other omnivores and carnivores from the same period, including American lions, bears, and wolves.

The mother's diet was most similar to that of the scimitar cat, a mammoth specialist.

The discovery also suggests that early humans may have contributed to the extinction of Ice Age megafauna, especially as environmental changes reduced their habitat.

“If the climate is changing in a way that reduces suitable habitat for some of these megafauna, they potentially become more susceptible to human predation. These people are highly capable. He was a great hunter,” Professor Potter said.

“It was a combination of a very sophisticated hunting culture that responded to a simple, large animal group under environmental stress, and techniques honed over 10,000 years in Eurasia,” Dr Chatters said.

of the team result Published in today's diary scientific progress.

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James C. Chatters others. 2024. Mammoths featured heavily in the diet of western Clovis. scientific progress 10(49);doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adr3814

Source: www.sci.news

Research shows that Clovis people utilized planted pikes for hunting large herbivores

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Historical and ethnographic sources document that portable pole-hafted weapons, or spears, were used for hunting and defense against large game in North and South America, Africa, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia for several millennia during the Late Holocene. Given the dominance of large game in North America during the Late Pleistocene, centuries when Clovis points emerged and spread across much of the continent between 13,050 and 12,650 years ago, pole-hafted weapons may have been used for hunting large herbivores or for defense against large carnivores.

A Clovis point with distinctive grooved flake scars. Image courtesy of S. Byram.

“This ancient Native American design was a remarkable innovation in hunting strategy,” said Dr Scott Byrum, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

“This unique indigenous technology provides a window into hunting and survival techniques that have been used for thousands of years in many parts of the world.”

The team's discovery may help solve a mystery that has plagued archaeological communities for decades: how North American communities actually used Clovis stone tools, the most commonly unearthed remains from the Ice Age.

Clovis Points are named after the town of Clovis, New Mexico, where they were first discovered about a century ago. Clovis Points are formed from rocks such as chert, flint, and jasper.

They range in size from the size of a person's thumb to the size of a medium-sized iPhone, and have a clearly defined, sharp edge and grooved indentations on either side of their base.

Thousands of fossils have been discovered across the United States, some of which have been unearthed within preserved mammoth skeletons.

“Clovis points are often the only part recovered from a spear,” said Dr. June Sunseri of the University of California, Berkeley.

“The elaborately engineered bone hafts at the ends of the weapons are sometimes found, but the wood at the bases of the spears, and the rosin and string that made them work as a complete system, have been lost over time.”

“Furthermore, research silos limit such systems thinking about prehistoric weaponry, and if stone experts are not bone experts they may not get the full picture.”

“We need to think beyond simple artifacts. The key here is looking at this as an engineered system that requires multiple types of expertise in our field and in other fields.”

Building tools into powerful and effective systems would have been a priority for communities 13,000 years ago.

Tools had to be durable; there were only a limited number of suitable rocks that people could use to cross the land.

They might travel hundreds of miles without obtaining a long, straight stick suitable for making a spear.

“So obviously you don't want to risk throwing or breaking your gear when you're not sure if you're going to catch the animal,” Dr Byrum said.

“People who analyse metal military artefacts know about it because it was used to halt horses in war.”

“But before that, it wasn't really known for other situations, like wild boar hunting or bear hunting.”

“It's a common theme in literature, but for some reason it hasn't been talked about much in anthropology.”

To evaluate their spear hypothesis, the researchers built a test platform to measure the force that the spear system could withstand before the tip broke off or the shaft stretched.

A low-tech, static version of an animal attack using reinforced replica Clovis point spears allowed us to test how different spears reach their breaking point and how their extension systems respond.

This builds on previous experiments in which researchers fired stone-tipped spears into clay and ballistic gel, which may have been as painful as a needle prick to a nine-tonne mammoth.

“The energy that a human arm can generate is completely different from the energy that a charging animal can generate. It's an order of magnitude different,” Dr Jun said.

“These spears were designed to protect the wielder.”

“The sophisticated Clovis technology, developed uniquely in North America, is a testament to the ingenuity and skill used by indigenous peoples to coexist with ancient lands and now-extinct megafauna,” said Kent Lightfoot, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Team result Published in a journal PLoS One.

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RS Byram others2024. Clovis projectile points and foresharps subjected to reinforced weapon compression: modelling the encounter between Stone Age spears and Pleistocene megafauna. PLoS One 19 (8): e0307996; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307996

This article is a version of a press release provided by the University of California, Berkeley.

Source: www.sci.news