Discoveries

July 06, 2023

Truth in Stones

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Archaeologists recently used a forensic method to discover what could be the first evidence of prehistoric people in North America hunting large mammals some 13,000 years ago, the Washington Post reported.

First discovered in the 1930s, the Clovis people were believed to be the first humans in North America. Although they left behind a strong genetic imprint, new studies suggest that there was a “pre-Clovis people” on the continent.

Even so, historians had scarce information about the diet of the prehistoric people living in what is now the western United States – until now.

For their study, a research team collected around 120 Clovis stone artifacts – including tools – from North and South Carolina.

The researchers sought to find if there were any blood residues in those objects to determine what the Clovis hunted. At first, they collected protein residues and used an old technique called crossover immunoelectrophoresis, which was previously used to identify blood or semen from crime scenes.

The procedure takes advantage of the way the immune system responds to foreign substances by confronting them with antibodies.

The team got five matches of Proboscidea, an order of large mammals that includes modern elephants as well as extinct mastodons and mammoths. Other stones showed evidence of animals in the horse family and other ruminants, such as bison.

The findings show that the Clovis hunted – and possibly consumed – mammoths thousands of years ago. Still, other scientists remained very skeptical of the findings, noting it was highly improbable for blood residue to survive for millennia and not be contaminated.

But if confirmed, the study hints at new details about what led to the extinction of giant Ice Age herbivores.

This story originally appeared in the July 06, 2023 newsletter, Humbled but Unbowed.