Early Indigenous Americans relied heavily on meat from mammoths to survive, according to a new study published in Science Advances. Researchers analyzed the bones of an 18-month-old boy, Anzick-1, who lived around 13,000 years ago in Montana. The findings reveal that his mother’s diet was similar to that of a “mammoth specialist,” with about 40% coming from mammoth meat.
The study used chemical analyses of stable radioisotopes in the boy’s bones to reconstruct his mother’s diet. The results show that people from the Western Clovis culture, to which the boy belonged, regularly hunted mammoths and preferred their meat above other sources like elk and bison. This discovery contradicts previous theories that they mainly hunted smaller game.
The analysis also suggests that the Clovis preference for mammoth meat may have contributed to the demise of these giant beasts in the Americas at the end of the last ice age. The study provides direct evidence of Western Clovis diets about 12,800 years ago, shedding new light on the lives and habits of early Americans.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/early-americans-ate-tons-mammoth-190000973.html