Mammoths, Measured Time, and Mistaken Identities

Abstract

Mammoth and mastodont sites containing broken or cut bones are not rare in the New World, but their meanings are ambiguous. Studies of recent African elephant bone sites indicate that certain processes in nature create bone modifications that are identical to the end-effects of human actions such as butchering. In designing a rational and efficient approach to the radiometric dating of fossil proboscidean sites, caution and skepticism should enter into interpretations of modified materials.