A team of scientists, led by the University of Texas at Austin, extracted collagen from the bones, allowing them to carbon date it to 36,250 to 38,900 years old.
The bones were discovered in a three-foot-high pile, 95 percent of which belonged to an adult, and showed signs of butchery and blunt-force impact fractures
The discovery adds to growing evidence that societies existed before humans crossed the Bering Strait bridge about 20,000 years ago. The bridge, also called Beringia, connected Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age and allowed people to come from Asia to North America.
Timothy Rowe, lead author of the study, told DailyMail.com that ancient humans likely came from Asia, but whether they followed a coastal or overland route to the Americas remains an open question. A separate study in 2021 found some of the first Americans to row across the Bering Sea, stopping along the chain of islands that were above the surface during the last Ice Age.
Previous studies have turned up ancient human remains dating back 20,000 years and other artifacts that suggest there were people in the area before Clovis—those who crossed the land bridge. However, mammoth bones are the first evidence found to date.
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Scientists discovered a three-foot pile of mammoth bones belonging to an adult female and her calf. However, 95 percent of the bones were from adults
Rowe said in a statement: “It is not a charismatic site with a beautiful skeleton lying on its side. Everything has fallen apart. But that’s the story.’
The discovery was also made in Rowe’s backyard. His neighbor spotted a tusk sticking out of the ground and quickly called a team to help excavate.
Once most of the dirt was removed, the outdoor slaughter area was revealed which includes different areas separated by stone and clay walls.
The mammoth bones, both adult and calf, were found in a pile with the adult head and tusks on top.
The bones were discovered in an outdoor slaughterhouse that included separate areas enclosed by walls.
The mammoth’s bones had butchery marks and blunt force impact fractures
Most of the remains in the pile belonged to the adult, including 44 broken cranial fragments, and an intact upper right second molar and 12 isolated dental plates, 25 ribs broken into 52 fragments, 3 vertebrae and 15 vertebral fragments, 32 impacted bone flakes, 9 “butterfly fragments”, 20 unidentifiable bone fragments and 267 bags of small “bone fragments”.
The photo is an illustration of what the adult mammoth looked like
“The adult face (tusks, premaxillae and partial maxilla) is the largest, heaviest element present and was positioned at the top of the bone pile,” says the study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
“It has been shaved from the skull to the strands, and the maxillary sinuses are broken and empty.
“The calf is represented by a partial left maxilla and dentary with intact dentition, three isolated dental plates, a left tibial diaphysis, and 10 rib fragments.”
The study also notes that the separation of the adult’s facial bones from the skull was caused by “the deepest fracture of the skull.”
Before the mammoth bones were found, it was a 20,000-year-old burial in Montana that was the earliest evidence of human settlement in North America.
The discovery adds to growing evidence that societies existed before humans crossed the Bering Strait bridge about 20,000 years ago. Pictured is a map showing how the land bridge once connected the two continents
The study also notes that the separation of the adult’s facial bones from the skull was caused by “the deepest fracture of the skull.” The photo shows the animal’s facial bones with blunt force impact fractures
In 1968, construction workers discovered ancient tools and the remains of a small child at the site.
It is the oldest genome ever recovered from the New World, and artifacts found with the body indicate that the boy was part of the Clovis culture that met the Bering Strait bridge.
The so-called Anzick skeleton was found with about 125 artifacts, including Clovis fluted spears and tools made of antler, and covered with red ochre, a type of mineral.
Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, who led the study, said in a statement: “Clovis boy’s family is the direct ancestor of about 80% of all present-day Native Americans.
“Although the Clovis culture disappeared, its people live on today.”
