DOCSLIB.ORG

Late Pleistocene Exploration and Settlement of the Americas by Modern Humans Michael R

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Late Pleistocene Exploration and Settlement of the Americas by Modern Humans Michael R RESEARCH ◥ sites show that people were present and suc- REVIEW SUMMARY cessfully occupying different areas of North and South America between ~15.5 and ~14 ka ago, thereby leading the way to a new understand- ANTHROPOLOGY ing of the first Americans. In the last 15 years, genetic information from Late Pleistocene exploration contemporary Indigenous Americans and the remains of ancient individuals from Asia and and settlement of the Americas the Americas has transformed our understand- ◥ ing of the ancestry of the ON OUR WEBSITE first Americans. Genetic by modern humans Read the full article studies first concentrated at http://dx.doi. on the analysis of mito- Michael R. Waters org/10.1126/ chondrial DNA, but in the science.aat5447 last decade, technological .................................................. breakthroughs have per- BACKGROUND: NorthandSouthAmerica radiocarbon date early sites and the belief that mitted the reconstruction of prehistoric ge- were the last continents populated by modern the ~13,000-year-old Clovis lanceolate fluted nomes. These genomic studies have conclusively humans. The timing of their arrival, the routes projectile points associated with mammoth re- shown that the first Americans were the result they took, their homeland of origin, and how mains represented the first people to enter the of ancestral east Asian and northern Eurasian they explored and settled diverse environ- continent. This view began to change with the admixture. This founder population made its Downloaded from ments filled with now-extinct animals have discovery of artifacts dating ~14.2 thousand years way to eastern Beringia and after additional been debated for over a century. Addressing (ka) ago at the Monte Verde site in southern population splits traveled south of the conti- these questions is key to understanding the Chile. This discovery signaled that people must nental ice sheets covering Canada sometime development of later prehistoric and contem- have been in the Americas before Clovis and between ~17.5 and ~14.6 ka ago. These genetic porary Indigenous cultures. that early sites should be present in other parts results agree with the emerging late Pleistocene of the Americas. Initially, many sites proposed archaeological record. http://science.sciencemag.org/ ADVANCES: The study of the first Americans to predate Clovis did not stand up to scrutiny, made slow but steady progress during the having issues with geological context, dating, or OUTLOOK: The key to learning more about 20th century. The first half of the century even the archaeological evidence itself. How- the first Americans is investigating archaeo- brought the realization that people had entered ever, the last 30 years have seen an increasing logical sites with solid geological contexts that the Americas at the end of the Pleistocene. The number of sites providing evidence of early are accurately dated. Only rigorously investi- second half of the century brought the ability to occupation that cannot be dismissed. These gated sites using the best practices of archeol- ogy, geoarchaeology, and geochronology will provide the primary and pivotal data to inter- pret the past. Analysis of biomolecules, includ- ing DNA, proteins, and lipids from these sites, will enhance environmental reconstructions on July 22, 2019 and archaeological interpretations. This will require time and patience because building archaeological knowledge is a slow process. Genetics is a powerful new tool that has al- ready broadly deciphered the origins and popu- lation history of the first Americans. Although the general outline of the ancestry of the In- digenous American genome will likely remain unchanged moving forward, recent genetic studies show even greater genetic complexity during the peopling process, especially once people were south of the ice sheets, and this storywillsurelychangedramaticallyand quickly with the generation of additional genomes. The ancestral history of the earliest peoples in the Americas will be realized as genetic knowledge from living populations and ancient individuals is combined with archaeological, geological, ethnographic, and oral records. This will require scientists and Indigenous peoples working as partners to 0 5cm uncover the past.▪ Page-Ladson site, Florida, ~14,550 years ago. Page-Ladson is the oldest radiocarbon-dated Email: [email protected] site in North America with artifacts of the first Americans, including a bifacial knife (inset), Cite this article as M. R. Waters, Science 365, eaat5447 found among the bones of extinct animals. (2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5447 ART BY GREGORY A. HARLIN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION Waters, Science 365, 138 (2019) 12 July 2019 1of1 RESEARCH ◥ ancestral Indigenous Americans, but both popu- REVIEW lations maintained gene flow between them until at least ∼11.5 ka ago, which suggests their close geographic proximity (11). This branching ANTHROPOLOGY took place in either eastern Eurasia or Beringia (11). If the split occurred in eastern Eurasia, then these two lineages would have moved together Late Pleistocene exploration or sequentially into eastern Beringia as weakly structured populations (Fig. 1, A and B), main- and settlement of the Americas taining gene flow between themselves but not with Asian and Siberian populations. Alterna- by modern humans tively, the ancestral Indigenous American popu- lation could have entered eastern Beringia and then AB emerged (Fig. 1, C and D), ensuring Michael R. Waters gene flow between them but isolation from Asian or Siberian populations. North and South America were the last continents to be explored and settled by modern Sometime between ∼17.5 and ∼14.6 ka ago, humans at the end of the Pleistocene. Genetic data, derived from contemporary populations groups from the ancestral Indigenous American and ancient individuals, show that the first Americans originated from Asia and after population split into two branches: Northern several population splits moved south of the continental ice sheets that covered Canada Native Americans (NNA) and Southern Native sometime between ~17.5 and ~14.6 thousand years (ka) ago. Archaeological evidence Americans (SNA) (9, 11). The location of the shows that geographically dispersed populations lived successfully, using biface, blade, divergence of the NNA and SNA branches from Downloaded from and osseous technologies, in multiple places in North and South America between the ancestral Indigenous American population ~15.5 and ~14 ka ago. Regional archaeological complexes emerged by at least ~13 ka ago most likely occurred either while the groups were inNorthAmericaand~12.9kaagoinSouthAmerica. Current genetic and archaeological migrating south from Beringia or after they had data do not support an earlier (pre–17.5 ka ago) occupation of the Americas. entered unglaciated North America (Fig. 1, A and C) (9, 11, 13). This is based on the fact that he discovery of Folsom projectile points and Y-chromosome DNA lineages gave the first AB do not belong to either the NNA or SNA http://science.sciencemag.org/ with extinct bison and Clovis artifacts with genetic insights into Indigenous American pop- branches and are equally related to both, and mammoth remains in New Mexico, in the ulation history (6). These studies demonstrated because there was no gene flow between AB T first half of the 20th century, established that the ancestors of all contemporary Indige- andtheSNAandNNApopulations.Alterna- that people had entered the Americas at nous people had descended from only five mater- tively, the two branches may have diverged in the end of the Pleistocene (1). Since then, more nal lineages (haplogroups A, B, C, D, and X) and eastern Beringia and then these groups migrated Clovis sites were found and investigated, radio- two paternal lineages (haplogroups C and Q). south, but this would have required strong popu- carbon dating placed these sites between ∼13 These lineages also showed that the founding lation structure for thousands of years to pre- and ∼12.7 thousand years (ka) ago, and Clovis population came from Asia and experienced vent gene flow among the ancestral Indigenous became accepted as the oldest occupation in the a severe genetic bottleneck, in which a small Americans, AB, and the NNA and SNA groups Americas. For decades, archaeological sites pro- number of people with limited genetic diversity while in eastern Beringia (Fig. 1, C and D). posed to predate ~13 ka ago were rejected be- gave rise to all Indigenous people who occupied TheAmericaswerepopulatedbymembers on July 22, 2019 causetheylackedartifacts,geologicalcontext, the continent before European arrival. Further, of the SNA and NNA branches. These branches or secure dates—or had a combination of these mtDNA analyses suggested that the source pop- emerged sometime between ~17.5 and ~14.6 ka problems (2). However, over the past 30 years, ulation from which the first Americans were ago, placing a maximum limiting age on the archaeological investigations in both North and derived had been isolated from Asian lineages, peopling of the unglaciated lands south of the ice South America revealed occupations predating most likely in eastern Beringia, before they dis- sheets. Analysis of mitogenomes places the arrival Clovis that could not be dismissed (1, 3–5). In persed south. After this “Beringian Standstill” of humans into unglaciated America at ~16 ka tandem with these archaeological discoveries, (6), a small group fissioned from this isolated ago (14), and Y-chromosome
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Radiocarbon Evidence Relating to Northern Great Basin Basketry Chronology
    UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title Radiocarbon Evidence Relating to Northern Great Basin Basketry Chronology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/52v4n8cf Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 20(1) ISSN 0191-3557 Authors Connolly, Thomas J Fowler, Catherine S Cannon, William J Publication Date 1998-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California REPORTS Radiocarbon Evidence Relating ity over a span of nearly 10,000 years (cf. to Northern Great Basin Cressman 1942, 1986; Connolly 1994). Stages Basketry Chronology 1 and 2 are divided at 7,000 years ago, the approximate time of the Mt. Mazama eruption THOMAS J. CONNOLLY which deposited a significant tephra chronologi­ Oregon State Museum of Anthropology., Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403. cal marker throughout the region. Stage 3 be­ CATHERINE S. FOWLER gins after 1,000 years ago,' when traits asso­ Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV ciated with Northern Paiute basketmaking tradi­ 89557. tions appear (Adovasio 1986a; Fowler and Daw­ WILLIAM J. CANNON son 1986; Adovasio and Pedler 1995; Fowler Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview, OR 97630. 1995). During Stage 1, from 11,000 to 7,000 years Adovasio et al. (1986) described Early ago, Adovasio (1986a: 196) asserted that north­ Holocene basketry from the northern Great ern Great Basin basketry was limited to open Basin as "simple twined and undecorated. " Cressman (1986) reported the presence of and close simple twining with z-twist (slanting decorated basketry during the Early Holo­ down to the right) wefts. Fort Rock and Spiral cene, which he characterized as a "climax Weft sandals were made (see Cressman [1942] of cultural development'' in the Fort Rock for technical details of sandal types).
    [Show full text]
  • UTOPÍAS INDIAS Movimientos Sociorreligiosos En México ALICIA M
    UTOPÍAS INDIAS Movimientos sociorreligiosos en México Alicia M. Barabas UTOPÍAS INDIAS Movimientos sociorreligiosos en México Abya-Yala 2000 UTOPÍAS INDIAS Movimientos sociorreligiosos en México ALICIA M. BARABAS Primera edición 1989 Editorial Grijalbo,S.A. México Segunda edición Ediciones ABYA-YALA corregida y aumentada 12 de Octubre 14-30 y Wilson Casilla: 17-12-719 Teléfono: 562-633 / 506-247 Fax: (593-2) 506-255 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]. Quito-Ecuador Impresión Docutech Quito-Ecuador Diseño de la Portada: ISBN: 9978-04-606-2 Impreso en Quito-Ecuador, 2000 Para Eduarda, Balby e Irene ÍNDICE PRÓLOGO A LA SEGUNDA EDICIÓN... 11 MOVIMIENTOS SOCIORRELIGIOSOS Y UTOPÍA ................................................. 83 RECONOCIMIENTOS ............................. 37 CONSIDERACIONES GENERALES ........ 39 Utopías ...................................................... 83 APROXIMACIONES TEÓRICAS A LOS Las Utopías en Occidente ........................ 88 MOVIMIENTOS SOCIORRELIGIOSOS.. 47 Utopías sociales y utopías milenaristas 88 Desarrollos conceptuales de la utopía.... 101 Aproximaciones teóricas ......................... 47 Principales estudios sobre los Las Utopías indias .................................... 105 movimientos sociorreligiosos ................. 48 MOVIMIENTOS SOCIORRELIGIOSOS Discusión conceptual ............................... 58 DURANTE LOS SIGLOS XVI Y XVII ...... 113 Movimientos sociales y movimientos de protesta............................................ 58 Contexto colonial durante Movimientos
    [Show full text]
  • Microblade Complexes and Traditions in the Interior Northwest, As Seen from Kelly Creek, West-Central Yukon
    Heri tage Branch Government of the Yukon Hud~ Hudlln Series Occasional Papers in Archaeology No.6 MLCROBLADE COMPLEXES AND TRADITIONS IN THE INTERIOR NORTHWEST. AS SEEN FROM THE KELLY CREEK SITE, WEST-CENTRAL YUKON Donald W. Clark and Ruth M. Gotthardt With contributions from Paul Gregory Hare YUKON Tourism Heritage Branch Dave Keenan, Minister 1999 MICROBLADE COMPLEXES AND TRADITIONS IN THE INTERIOR NORTHWEST, AS SEEN FROM KELLY CREEK, WEST-CENTRAL YUKON DONALD W. CLARK Emeritus, Canadian Museum of Civilization RUTH M. GOTTHARDT Yukon Heritage Branch With contributions from PAUL GREGORY HARE Yukon Heritage Branch 1999 AllSTRACT This report describes the microblade industry from the Kelly Creek site, KbTx-2, which is located in the Frenchman La.kes area near Carmacks, Yukon. Testing and excavation was done at KbTx-2 during several seasons from 1981 to 1994. The si te produced one of the larger samples of a microblade industry to come from the Yukon, with more than 20 cores. The microblade cores are mainly classic examples of the Campus type, also referred to as Denali type. Abundant evidence was recovered of the Campus mode of platform rejuvenation through longitudinal detachment of platform tablets. In the broad context of northwestern North American prehistory, Kelly Creek is an American Palaeo-Arctic Or Denali complex, or Late Denali or Northwest Mioroblade tradition assemblage, or possibly even Northern Archaic tradition site. These tradition constructs only partially overlap or duplicate one another. [n an attempt to deal with and resolve what is plainly a systematics problem, we review and discuss these organizational constructs as they are used in the greater region.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Rock Cave: Assessing the Site’S Potential to Contribute to Ongoing Debates About How and When Humans Colonized the Great Basin
    RETURN TO FORT ROCK CAVE: ASSESSING THE SITE’S POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO ONGOING DEBATES ABOUT HOW AND WHEN HUMANS COLONIZED THE GREAT BASIN Thomas J. Connolly, Judson Byrd Finley, Geoffrey M. Smith, Dennis L. Jenkins, Pamela E. Endzweig, Brian L. O’Neill, and Paul W. Baxter Oregon’s Fort Rock Cave is iconic in respect to both the archaeology of the northern Great Basin and the history of debate about when the Great Basin was colonized. In 1938, Luther Cressman recovered dozens of sagebrush bark sandals from beneath Mt. Mazama ash that were later radiocarbon dated to between 10,500 and 9350 cal B.P. In 1970, Stephen Bedwell reported finding lithic tools associated with a date of more than 15,000 cal B.P., a date dismissed as unreasonably old by most researchers. Now, with evidence of a nearly 15,000-year-old occupation at the nearby Paisley Five Mile Point Caves, we returned to Fort Rock Cave to evaluate the validity of Bedwell’s claim, assess the stratigraphic integrity of remaining deposits, and determine the potential for future work at the site. Here, we report the results of additional fieldwork at Fort Rock Cave undertaken in 2015 and 2016, which supports the early Holocene occupation, but does not confirm a pre–10,500 cal B.P. human presence. La cueva de Fort Rock en Oregón es icónica por lo que representa para la arqueología de la parte norte de la Gran Cuenca y para la historia del debate sobre la primera ocupación de la Gran Cuenca. En 1938, Luther Cressman recuperó docenas de sandalias de corteza de artemisa debajo de una capa de cenizas del monte Mazama que fueron posteriormente fechadas por radiocarbono entre 10,500 y 9200 cal a.P.
    [Show full text]
  • Swsymposium2020 Program.Pdf
    Sponsors and Exhibitors The Southwest Symposium is a non-profit organization that exists solely to organize, host, and publish the proceedings of the biennial archaeological conference. Sponsorship helps us fund the conference venue and events, subvent book publications resulting from the conference, and allows us to pay the travel and lodging expenses for tribal participants in the organized program as well as a number of student participants. We are extremely grateful to our generous sponsors and hosts for the 2020 conference. Conference Hosts: Platinum Sponsors: Gold Sponsors: Silver Sponsor: Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Bronze Sponsors: Northern Arizona University, Department of Anthropology University of Notre Dame, Department of Anthropology Program of the 17th Biennial Conference of The Southwest Symposium January 30th-February 1st, 2020 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ The Southwest Symposium Organization 2020 1 2020 Southwest Symposium Thinking Big: New Approaches to Synthesis and Partnership in the Southwest/Northwest Paper/poster sessions and forums at the 2020 conference showcase research and perspectives focused broadly on debates that go beyond individual regions, study areas, and typical research partnerships. This includes work focused on large-scale data compilation and analyses designed to provide new answers to old questions and to generate new questions from old data, research that spans the international border and grapples with the complexities of integrating research traditions and languages, comparative perspectives on research in the Southwest/Northwest helping to place locality-based research in a broader context, and frank discussion of the need and prospects for partnerships among tribal, resource management, and academic partners that go beyond typical collaborative research.
    [Show full text]
  • Page/Ladson (8Je591) : Excavation of an Early Holocene Occupation Site
    PAGE/LADSON (8JE591): EXCAVATION OF AN EARLY HOLOCENE OCCUPATION SITE IN THE AUCILLA RIVER, FLORIDA By BRINNEN S. CARTER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2003 ' r Copyright 2003 by Brinnen S. Carter This document is dedicated to my dead father, Brinly Stewart Carter. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who deserve the largest measure of thanks for their patience and support. On the intellectual side, S. David Webb and James (Jim) Dunbar are first and foremost. The Florida Department of State Special Category grants, National Geographic grants, and numerous private donations of money, time, and equipment, to the Aucilla River Prehistory Project, lead by Drs. Webb and Milanich paid for the fieldwork. Grants and salary from the Aucilla River Prehistory Project and discussions with Jim Dunbar have been important in directing the work that follows. Discussions with David Anderson (modeling Paleoindian/Early Archaic American Indian bands and macrobands), Albert Goodyear (tool technology and chronology), Jerald Milanich (hypothesis generation and testing), Louis Tesar (overall Florida Paleoindian site distribution and nature) have also contributed to the quality of work. One could hardly ask for a better archaeology faculty than the University of Florida's for understanding the breadth of New World Archaeology. The archaeology faculty of Florida State University—and especially Rochelle Marrinan—helped me keep my dignity while completing the dissertation. Teaching at FSU added notches to my resume and gave me a better understanding of the pressures under which university-based researchers work.
    [Show full text]
  • Inventory and Analysis of Archaeological Site Occurrence on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf
    OCS Study BOEM 2012-008 Inventory and Analysis of Archaeological Site Occurrence on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Gulf of Mexico OCS Region OCS Study BOEM 2012-008 Inventory and Analysis of Archaeological Site Occurrence on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Author TRC Environmental Corporation Prepared under BOEM Contract M08PD00024 by TRC Environmental Corporation 4155 Shackleford Road Suite 225 Norcross, Georgia 30093 Published by U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management New Orleans Gulf of Mexico OCS Region May 2012 DISCLAIMER This report was prepared under contract between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and TRC Environmental Corporation. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it has been approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of BOEM, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endoresements or recommendation for use. It is, however, exempt from review and compliance with BOEM editorial standards. REPORT AVAILABILITY This report is available only in compact disc format from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00, by referencing OCS Study BOEM 2012-008. The report may be downloaded from the BOEM website through the Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS). You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future. Here are the addresses. You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • 0205683290.Pdf
    Hominin footprints preserved at Laetoli, Tanzania, are about 3.6 million years old. These individuals were between 3 and 4 feet tall when standing upright. For a close-up view of one of the footprints and further information, go to the human origins section of the website of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/ humanorigins/ha/laetoli.htm. THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY AND CULTURE 2 the BIG questions v What do living nonhuman primates tell us about OUTLINE human culture? Nonhuman Primates and the Roots of Human Culture v Hominin Evolution to Modern What role did culture play Humans during hominin evolution? Critical Thinking: What Is Really in the Toolbox? v How has modern human Eye on the Environment: Clothing as a Thermal culture changed in the past Adaptation to Cold and Wind 12,000 years? The Neolithic Revolution and the Emergence of Cities and States Lessons Applied: Archaeology Findings Increase Food Production in Bolivia 33 Substantial scientific evidence indicates that modern hu- closest to humans and describes how they provide insights into mans have evolved from a shared lineage with primate ances- what the lives of the earliest human ancestors might have been tors between 4 and 8 million years ago. The mid-nineteenth like. It then turns to a description of the main stages in evolu- century was a turning point in European thinking about tion to modern humans. The last section covers the develop- human origins as scientific thinking challenged the biblical ment of settled life, agriculture, and cities and states.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeological Jackpot: Paleoindian Research at the End of the World
    56 Archaeological Jackpot: Paleoindian Research at the End of the World Ismael Sánchez-Morales School of Anthropology, University of Arizona The search for the oldest inhabitants of North America, the frst setlers of this continent, is like playing the lotery: you may think it is your lucky day but at the end of the day - Surprise! - You haven’t won the grand prize. Nevertheless, after years of studying the numbers in detail with the hope of fnding paterns that might help you win, and especially with a lot of luck, you might actually win something. And that something could be a once in a life-time prize. That is what it is like to work on Paleoindian sites. It is all or nothing, and even though 99% of the time you come up with nothing, literally not even the smallest chip of stone or bone, when you fnally fnd that litle speck of ancient human culture intact and buried, left behind 13,000 years ago during a time when mammoths and saber toothed cats still roamed these lands, you feel like you fnally have won the jackpot. I mean, it does not get any beter than that. I have worked on Paleoindian archaeology in northwestern Mexico for the last 9 years, trying to understand how some of the frst inhabitants of Sonora lived at the end of the Pleistocene era about 13,000 years ago, how they moved around the Sonoran landscape, and how they used the diferent resources that they encountered in a totally new and unknown territory. This is not an easy task.
    [Show full text]
  • 12.9 Kya • Pleistocene Overkill Hypothesis=Overexploitation / Overhun
    Review of Last Class Materials (collapses): -Clovis: 12.9 kya Pleistocene Overkill Hypothesis=overexploitation / overhunting of resources by humans Younger Dryas Hypothesis=big game species died due to dropping temperatures so humans changed from clovis tech to more effective tools for their new food sources Was the change human induced or a gradual change via natural causes? -Skara Brae: 2500BC Huge Storm=excellent preservation of artifacts and engulfed in sand Conditions got worse (colder/wetter)=humans forced to migrate slowly to new areas because they couldn’t keep their crops and animals alive/sufficient for their people Was the change gradual or acute/abrupt? -Mohenjo-Daro: No evidence found of defensive/military tools or efforts=easily invaded and taken over Over-exploited resources=upwards of hundreds of city-centers along Indus river that were all trying to grow food for thousands of people which robbed the soil of its nutrients and they could no longer produce food in the quantity needed to keep their populations running Indus river’s tributaries shifted due to massive earthquakes, so the original river dried up and a new one formed east of the old one, so the city-centers had to move too -Ur: Euphrates dried up around 1000BC during the long-term desertification=urban and rural centers both suffered from lack of food, so many small rural populations are thought to have flocked to urban centers for free meals, whether through peaceful trades or harsher means (burning/sacking) -Poverty Point: Climate change=resources
    [Show full text]
  • New Record of Terminal Pleistocene Elk/Wapiti (Cervus Canadensis) from Ohio, USA
    2 TERMINAL PLEISTOCENE ELK FROM OHIO VOL. 121(2) New Record of Terminal Pleistocene Elk/Wapiti (Cervus canadensis) from Ohio, USA BRIAN G. REDMOND1, Department of Archaeology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA; DAVID L. DYER, Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH, USA; and CHARLES STEPHENS, Sugar Creek Chapter, Archaeological Society of Ohio, Massillon, OH, USA. ABSTRACT. The earliest appearance of elk/wapiti (Cervus canadensis) in eastern North America is not thoroughly documented due to the small number of directly dated remains. Until recently, no absolute dates on elk bone older than 10,000 14C yr BP (11,621 to 11,306 calibrated years (cal yr) BP) were known from this region. The partial skeleton of the Tope Elk was discovered in 2017 during commercial excavation of peat deposits from a small bog in southeastern Medina County, Ohio, United States. Subsequent examination of the remains revealed the individual to be a robust male approximately 8.5 years old at death. The large size of this individual is compared with late Holocene specimens and suggests diminution of elk since the late Pleistocene. Two accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon assays on bone collagen samples taken from the scapula and metacarpal of this individual returned ages of 10,270 ± 30 14C yr BP (Beta-477478) (12,154 to 11,835 cal yr BP) and 10,260 ± 30 14C yr BP (Beta-521748) (12,144 to 11,830 cal yr BP), respectively. These results place Cervus canadensis in the terminal Pleistocene of the eastern woodlands and near the establishment of the mixed deciduous forest biome over much of the region.
    [Show full text]
  • A North American Perspective on the Volg (PDF)
    Quaternary International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint A North American perspective on the Volgu Biface Cache from Upper Paleolithic France and its relationship to the “Solutrean Hypothesis” for Clovis origins J. David Kilby Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: The “Solutrean hypothesis” for the origins of the North American Clovis Culture posits that early North American Volgu colonizers were direct descendants of European populations that migrated across the North Atlantic during the Clovis European Upper Paleolithic. The evidential basis for this model rests largely on proposed technological and Solutrean behavioral similarities shared by the North American Clovis archaeological culture and the French and Iberian Cache Solutrean archaeological culture. The caching of stone tools by both cultures is one of the specific behavioral correlates put forth by proponents in support of the hypothesis. While more than two dozen Clovis caches have been identified, Volgu is the only Solutrean cache identified at this time. Volgu consists of at least 15 exquisitely manufactured bifacial stone tools interpreted as an artifact cache or ritual deposit, and the artifacts themselves have long been considered exemplary of the most refined Solutrean bifacial technology. This paper reports the results of applying methods developed for the comparative analysis of the relatively more abundant caches of Clovis materials in North America to this apparently singular Solutrean cache. In addition to providing a window into Solutrean technology and perhaps into Upper Paleolithic ritual behavior, this comparison of Clovis and Solutrean assemblages serves to test one of the tangible archaeological implications of the “Solutrean hypoth- esis” by evaluating the technological and behavioral equivalence of Solutrean and Clovis artifact caching.
    [Show full text]