Mastodons Were Hunted In North America 800 Years Earlier Than Thought

The people were hunting large mammals in North America about 800 years earlier than previously thought, a new analysis of a single controversial Mastodon - what appears to be the spearhead of the rib - seems to confirm.

The discovery suggests that humans were hunting mastodons using bone tools over a thousand years before the start of the "Clovis culture," the first known human culture in North America. Other evidence points to hunt mammoths with stone tools around that time, but the notion of pre-Clovis hunting remains controversial.

The mastodon was found in 1977 by a farmer named Emanuel Manis. He contacted the archaeologist Carl Gustafson, who excavated the skeleton and noticed a sharp object stuck in his ribs. Gustafson had a blurred X-ray and the object interpreted as a projectile point made of bone or wood.

For the dating of organic materials around the fossil, he felt it was about 14,000 years. Other archaeologists questioned the dates of Gustafson and interpretation of the fragment as a key man.

Decades later, Professor Michael Waters of Texas A & M University contacted him about the review of the model of modern technology. His analysis was published in the journal Science on Thursday.

Mastodon waters located in industrial CT scanner at the University of Texas. "And 'more efficient than in the hospital. They are taking a 0.06 mm slices, half the thickness of a piece of paper," he says. "3D has clearly shown that the object was sharp and tip. 'Was clearly the end of bullet points of bones."

The water tested collagen protein from the rib of the mastodon tusks and to confirm that the animal died of 13,800 years ago almost exactly as predicted Gustafson.

He also extracted DNA rib and a spearhead. The analysis showed that both belonged to the Mastodon, suggesting the animal was killed with his gun-shaped remnants of its kind.

"Without doubt, it should be regarded as evidence of hunting.'re Thrown back to explain something else," said Professor Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan.

Two other sites in Wisconsin appear to show people hunted woolly mammoths and the use of stone tools made between 14,200 and 14,800 years. The sample indicates that Manis also hunted mastodons and used bone tools.

Together, the three sites provide strong evidence for pre-Clovis hunting. "They are undeniable," said Waters. "Clearly, people were hunting mammoths and mastodons and again, play a role in his disappearance."

He believes that predators can gradually succumbed to the pressure of human hunting, and fast, "Clovis blitzkrieg".

Despite the efforts of Waters, it will be in the ribs Manis mastodon still draw debate. "It is not definitely proved that it is a projectile point," says Professor Gary Haynes of the University of Nevada, Reno. "Today, the elephant pushing each other all the time and break each other coast, so it could be a bone splinter that the animal just ran over .."

Waters did not credit this alternative hypothesis. "Ridiculous, that if the stories are meant to explain something that people do not want to believe," he said. "We took a sample of bone disease, showed him the TT, and asked if there was some way could be internal injuries. He said that is absolutely not."

Waters added, "If you break a bone, a splinter not turn magically through the muscle and penetrate your chest bones Something might come of this stuff with a lot of power to bring him in the ribs .. "

The javelin thrower has had a strong hand, because the fragment would have hit the hair, skin, muscles and even 30 cm, and Mastodon. "Bone projectile point is actually a deadly weapon," said Waters. "It 'a sharp needle tip, and slightly larger than the diameter of a pencil. It' s like a bullet. And 'designed to reach deep into the elephant and the body was hit ... I saw them launched through the old machines. "

What does it take to finally convince the skeptics? "I will not dig your heels and Stonewall," said Haynes. "If you took out and showed no scratch marks and has been polished and shaped, that convinces me."

Waters said he did not tamper with this extraordinary individual. "It would destroy it. I despised and rejected. And 'useless with modern technology. I could make 3-D printers, and creates the object itself."



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