Mammoth Population Research Articles

Radiocarbon chronology and environment of woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) in northern Asia: results and perspectives

This paper reviews the history of the woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) in Siberia and adjacent northern Asia. The particular emphases are the chronology and environment of mammoth existence and extinction, based on about 530 radiocarbon dates from about 230 localities with mammoth remains and palaeoenvironmental records of the last 50,000 years. Until ca. 12,000 radiocarbon years ago (BP), mammoths inhabited all of northern Asia, from the High Arctic to southern Siberia and northeastern China. Since ca. 12,000 BP, mammoth disappeared from major parts of Siberia and adjacent northern Asia, and survived mainly in the Arctic regions of Siberia, north of 69° northern latitude. However, recently, it was found that some mammoth populations continued to exist in central and southern Western Siberia until ca. 11,100–10,200 BP. ‘Normal’ size mammoths became extinct in mainland Siberia at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, ca. 9700 BP. On Wrangel Island in the High Arctic, small-sized mammoths survived into the Middle–Late Holocene, ca. 7700–3700 BP. Compared with previous studies, it is now possible to reveal the complex nature of the process of final mammoth extinction in Siberia, with some small populations surviving outside of the Arctic until ca. 10,000 BP. The extinction of mammoth was most probably caused by a combination of factors, such as global warming in the Late Glacial (since ca. 15,000 BP) and the disintegration of landscapes suitable for mammoths throughout the Upper Pleistocene, such as light forests with vast open spaces occupied by meadows and forest tundra. The expansion of forest vegetation after the Last Glacial Maximum in Siberia, including its northeastern part, created unsuitable habitats for herbivorous megafauna, especially for mammoths. However, the Holocene environment of Wrangel Island was not of ‘glacial’ type and this requires further studies. The relationship between mammoths and Upper Palaeolithic humans is also considered. The role of humans in the process of mammoth extinction was of secondary importance. The lack of direct evidences of mammoth hunting limits the estimation of its role in Upper Palaeolithic human subsistence. Siberia is undoubtedly the area where the final extinction of mammoth occurred, and the future study of this process is important to understand the patterns of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in the Northern Hemisphere.

Mammoth bone deposits and subsistence practices during Mid-Upper Palaeolithic in Central Europe: three cases from Moravia and Poland

The lowlands of Lower Austria–Moravia–South Poland form an important natural corridor in Central Europe, allowing migrations of both animals and humans between the Danube valley and the North European Plain. The paper examines the relationship between mammoth bone deposits and Gravettian settlements along this corridor, basing on contextual archaeological evidence in general, and on zooarchaeological analyses of the individual sites: Dolnı́ Věstonice I–II, Milovice G, and Kraków Spadzista Street (B). Mammoth bone accumulations from these areas can be interpreted as butchery places on the death locations (as in Milovice G) and as butchery places on death/hunting site (as in Kraków Spadzista Street (B)). At these sites, Gravettian people may have seasonally gathered, taking advantage of landscape geomorphology and marshy conditions to organize collective mammoth hunts. The long-term occupations, as recorded at the Moravian sites with their exceptional archaeological evidence, support this idea. The mammoth-dominated sites probably result from specialized mammoth hunts as well as from other means of exploitation of these animals during peculiar environmental stresses, both seasonal (e.g., the palaeoecological changes during the end spring thawing period), and long-term in nature (the declining features of the mammoth population, as shown in Kraków Spadzista Street (B)).

Late Pleistocene mammoth herd structure, migration patterns, and Clovis hunting strategies inferred from isotopic analyses of multiple death assemblages

Many late Pleistocene fossil localities contain the remains of multiple mammoths. Some of these sites have been interpreted as representing the mass death of an entire herd, or family group, of mammoths. These assemblages have been cited as evidence of intense human predation and used to reconstruct mammoth population dynamics. However, these interpretations remain controversial because the taphonomic settings of many sites are still debated. To reconstruct the taphonomic setting of each site and the movement patterns of mammoths among sites, I used anal- yses of carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope ratios in mammoth tooth enamel. The carbon iso- topes of fossils vary with diet and local vegetation, oxygen isotopes vary with local climate, and strontium isotopes vary with local soil chemistry. If Pleistocene mammoths traveled together in small family groups, then mammoths from sites that represent family groups should have lower isotopic variability than mammoths from sites containing unrelated individuals. I tested this con- jecture by comparing the isotopic variability among mammoths from two sites—one that repre- sents the mass death of a single herd (Waco, Texas) and one representing a time-averaged accu- mulation (Friesenhahn Cave, Texas)—and then used these analyses to examine mammoths from three Clovis sites: Blackwater Draw, New Mexico; Dent, Colorado; and Miami, Texas. Low levels of carbon isotope variability were found to be the most diagnostic signal of herd/family group association. Although the variability of oxygen and strontium isotope ratios proved less useful for identifying family group assemblages, these signals did provide information about the movement patterns of individuals among different sites. High levels of variability in each of the isotope sys- tems at Clovis sites suggest that all of the sites examined represent time-averaged accumulations of unrelated individuals, rather than the mass deaths of family groups. In addition, analyses of the mean isotope values of Clovis mammoths show that although most mammoths from Blackwater and Miami had similar values, the values of Dent mammoths were significantly different. This demonstrates that the Dent mammoths belonged to a separate popu- lation and suggests that Clovis mammoths did not routinely undertake long distance ( $600 km) migrations.

Dating the extinction of European mammoths: new evidence from Estonia

Five mammoth molars, four pieces of tusk and one bone fragment found in different parts of Estonia were radiocarbon dated using the AMS method. Six of the analysed samples gave an infinite date. These remains originate most likely from an ice-free period during the Early Weichselian or early Middle Weichselian. The molar from Mooste, southeast Estonia was dated at 31,000 BP, and seems thus to belong to the same faunal complex as several other previously dated mammoth specimens recovered in Finland and other Nordic countries. Two molars from Puurmani, central Estonia gave an age of ca 10,000 BP, suggesting a late relict mammoth population living in northeast Europe during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene transition.

Late Quaternary paleoenvironments and modern pollen data from Wrangel Island (Northern Chukotka)

New lacustrine records from central and southern Wrangel Island are analyzed for their pollen content in an attempt to clarify possible linkages between paleoenvironmental shifts and the dwarfing and/or extinction of the island's mammoth population. A Younger Dryas-aged peat is also examined to provide better understanding of the regional climatic history. Samples of surficial lake sediments from Wrangel Island and Chukotka aid in interpreting the lacustrine records. The modern spectra differentiate the herb-dominated tundra of Wrangel Island from the shrub tundras of the mainland and are unique when compared to other arctic assemblages. Analysis of the fossil data indicates that a herb-dominated tundra has been present on southern and central Wrangel Island since at least 11 ka BP. Comparison to modern palynological data implies little change in vegetation during the Holocene. The lacustrine interpretations contrast to those based on paleobotanical study of peats and alluvium, which suggest modern vegetation was not present until ca 4–3 ka BP. Pre-Holocene assemblages have high percentages of Cyperaceae pollen, perhaps indicating more moderate conditions. Summer climate is inferred to be warmer and moister than present during the latest Pleistocene and early Holocene. The pattern of postglacial warming on Wrangel Island is more like that from eastern Beringia than from other areas of western Beringia. Modern synoptic anomaly maps indicate that such a climatic pattern is reasonable and related to the presence of negative anomalies over western Beringia and a region of weaker positive 500 mb pressure centered over the Beaufort Sea.

AMS Dating Mammoth Bones: Comparison with Conventional Dating

Fossilized Siberian mammoth remains are important indicators of environmental change in the Late Pleistocene. The NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory radiocarbon results on amino acid separations compare well with mammoth bone collagen from the same specimens treated by HCl and dated by beta counting (the Russian Academy Geological Institute Radiocarbon Laboratory). Neither laboratory was aware of the other's dates for these comparisons. The results coincide very closely (a difference of 50–800 yr), and demonstrate that AMS dating provides a very good perspective for applications of past mammoth population studies.

Holocene dwarf mammoths from Wrangel Island in the Siberian Arctic

THE cause of extinction of the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach), is still debated. A major environmental change at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, hunting by early man, or both together are among the main explanations that have been suggested. But hardly anyone has doubted that mammoths had become extinct everywhere by around 9,500 years before present (BP). We report here new discoveries on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean that force this view to be revised. Along with normal-sized mammoth fossils dating to the end of the Pleistocene, numerous teeth of dwarf mammoth dated 7,000-4,000 yr BP have been found there. The island is thought to have become separated from the mainland by 12,000 yr BP. Survival of a mammoth population may be explained by local topography and climatic features, which permitted relictual preservation of communities of steppe plants. We interpret the dwarfing of the Wrangel mammoths as a result of the insularity effect, combined with a response to the general trend towards unfavourable environment in the Holocene.

Simulating Mammoth Hunting and Extinction: Implications for the Late Pleistocene of the Central Russian Plain

Mammoths were an important resource for Upper Palaeolithic hunter‐gatherers. Their remains are frequently found in faunal assemblages, their bones were used for the construction of dwellings, and they figure significantly in Palaeolithic art. Mammoths became extinct in North America at ca. 11,000 BP, in Eurasia at ca. 12,000 BP, and in Siberia at ca. 10,000 BP, and there has been considerable debate as to whether human predation was a causal factor. The computer simulation model described in this paper explores the effect of different types of hunting strategies on mammoth populations in a range of different environmental situations. It demonstrates that mammoth populations are extremely sensitive to predation. The simulation results are discussed with reference to the settlements on the Central Russian Plain. The results agree with Soffer's suggestion that the majority of mammoth remains probably derive from collecting, rather than hunting.

Fluted Projectile Points: Their Age and Dispersion

The stratigraphic record shows Clovis projectile points to be restricted to sediments between 11,000 and 11,500 years old. Underlying deposits dating back 11,600 to 13,000 years are without evidence of human occupation. In the High Plains, overlying deposits dating back 10,000 to 11,000 years contain Folsom and Hell Gap artifacts and are without mammoth remains. The glacial history of Alaska, Canada, and the Great Lakes region indicates that, for the first time in at least 15,000 years, an ice-free, trans-Canadian corridor opened up approximately 12,000 years ago. Since Clovis points are distributed from coast to coast south of the Valders ice border, the abrupt appearance of Clovis artifacts in the stratigraphic record of the High Plains some 700 years later suggests that Clovis progenitors passed through Canada during Two Creeks time. If eastern fluted points (for example, Enterline) are older than Clovis points, the difference may be on the order of only a hundred or so years, not thousands. The change from Clovis points to Folsom points in the High Plains may be related to a marked decline in the mammoth population after 11,000 years ago, but whether or not man was a prime factor in the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna is a moot question. On the basis of new data and critical geological evaluation of dates obtained by the radiocarbon method a hypothesis has been offered to explain (i) the abrupt appearance of Clovis points in the stratigraphic record of the United States around 11,500 years ago, and (ii) the lack of a cultural continuum in the United States leading to fluted projectile points. Llano hunters, like the game they pursued, may have persisted longer in some areas of the continent (for example, Bull Brook) than in others, but if a Clovis site can be found for which good stratigraphic evidence supports a date earlier than the Two Creeks interstade, then correlation of this event to the opening of the trans-Canadian ice-free corridor is incorrect (see 41a). Such a misinterpretation of timing would not affect the explanation for the lack of Clovis progenitors in the United States. We must continue to look for an indigenous cultural continuum leading to Clovis points, but if such cannot be demonstrated in the conterminous United States, then it would appear that fluted projectile points were developed elsewhere. Clovis progenitors might best be sought in northern Alaska or the Mackenzie Valley. The interpretations offered here are based on new data and critical geological evaluation of dates previously obtained by the radiocarbon method. How valid these interpretations are can be ascertained only through careful scrutiny of all man-mammoth associations found in the future, to assure precise relating of dates, fossils, and artifacts to the stratigraphic framework. We must pay closer attention to stratigraphic detail if we are to make the fullest use of radiocarbon dating.