A 12,800-year-old skull found in Montana has provided new evidence that early Americans hunted mammoths and other giant mammals to oblivion, contributing to their mass extinction. A study analyzing the ancient bones of a young child suggests that humans were the main drivers of Pleistocene extinctions.
Scientists have debated the cause of the megafauna’s disappearance for decades, with some blaming climate change and others arguing that people played a key role in their extinction. However, a new analysis of the Anzick child’s diet, published in Science Advances, provides conclusive evidence that early Americans hunted giant mammals, including mammoths.
The study, led by Ben Potter, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, used chemical analysis to determine the isotopic signature in the Anzick child’s skull. The results showed that over 40% of the boy’s diet came from mammoths, with elk and bison being the second most common meal.
The findings support the “overkill hypothesis,” which suggests that human hunting led to the extinction of megafauna. Researchers argue that early Americans were skilled big-mammal hunters, and the results confirm this theory.
While some scientists have raised concerns about the study’s methods and conclusions, others see it as a significant confirmation of the long-recognized pattern in the archaeological record. The study offers a striking glimpse at what life was like for early Americans, who faced “some of the steepest odds of all time” but thrived nonetheless.
The discovery sheds new light on one of the most enduring mysteries of the past, and provides a fascinating insight into the lives of our ancient ancestors.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/science/mammoth-extinction-human-hunting.html