Extensive paleolithic scientific investigations have revealed that the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) constituted the primary dietary component for the Clovis people, who represented the earliest widespread hunter-gatherer societies in North America. Following mammoths in dietary importance were elk and bison/camel, with the consumption of smaller mammals being virtually insignificant.
An artist’s reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick-1 infant with his mother consuming mammoth meat near a hearth. Another individual crafts tools, including dart projectile points and atlatls. A mammoth butchery area is visible nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.
The Clovis populace established their presence throughout North America approximately thirteen millennia ago.
During this historical epoch, enormous fauna, such as mammoths, inhabited vast expanses of both northern Asia and the Americas.
Their extensive nomadic patterns rendered them a dependable source of energy-dense fats and proteins for highly mobile human groups.
While certain scholars propose that the Clovis people demonstrated a degree of specialization in hunting megafauna, with a particular emphasis on mammoths, others counter that such a specialized strategy was unsustainable. These dissenting viewpoints suggest that Clovis populations were more likely generalized foragers, routinely incorporating smaller game animals, plant life, and potentially fish into their subsistence strategies.
Dr. James Chatters, a researcher affiliated with McMaster University, posited that “the pronounced focus on mammoths offers insight into how the Clovis people were able to disseminate across North America and subsequently into South America within a mere few centuries.”
Professor Ben Potter from the University of Alaska Fairbanks commented, “What I find particularly compelling is the convergence of this finding with substantial data from numerous other archaeological sites.”
“For instance,” he elaborated, “the faunal remains unearthed at Clovis excavation sites are predominantly from large mammals, and the projectile points recovered are of substantial size, designed to be affixed to darts, which were highly effective long-range weaponry.”
In the most recent scholarly inquiry, Dr. Chatters, Professor Potter, and their fellow researchers employed stable isotope analysis. This methodology was utilized to reconstruct the dietary patterns of the maternal guardian of an eighteen-month-old infant unearthed at the Anzick site in Montana, USA, a Clovis settlement dating back 13,000 years.
The results of their investigations lend robust support to the proposition that the Clovis people concentrated their hunting efforts on sizable game animals, rather than predominating in the acquisition of smaller fauna and botanical resources.
Professor Potter articulated that “the pursuit of mammoths facilitated a flexible lifestyle.”
“This enabled the Clovis people to venture into novel territories without being tethered to the availability of smaller, localized game populations, the abundance of which could fluctuate considerably between different geographical areas.”
“This inherent mobility is consistent with the technological advancements and settlement characteristics observed in Clovis societies.”
“Their lifestyle was characterized by immense mobility. They transported essential materials, such as lithic resources for tool manufacture, over hundreds of miles.”
Dr. Mat Wooller of the University of Alaska Fairbanks explained that “isotopes furnish a chemical signature of an organism’s diet and can be juxtaposed with those of potential food items to ascertain the proportional contribution of various dietary constituents.”
The research cohort meticulously compared the stable isotopic profile of the mother’s diet with those derived from a comprehensive array of food sources prevalent during the same temporal and geographical context.
Their findings indicated that approximately 40% of her caloric intake originated from mammoth flesh, with other large ungulates, such as elk and bison, accounting for the remainder.
Small mammals, which were sometimes theorized to have constituted a significant food source, played a remarkably minor role in her nutritional intake.
Ultimately, the scientific team contrasted the mother’s dietary composition with that of other omnivorous and carnivorous species from the same era, including American lions, bears, and wolves.
The dietary signature of the mother exhibited the greatest similarity to that of the scimitar cat, a predator known for its specialization in hunting mammoths.
These discoveries also suggest a potential role for early humans in the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna, particularly as climatic shifts led to a reduction in their available habitats.
Professor Potter observed that “if climatic conditions are altering in a manner that diminishes the suitable environments for certain megafauna, this can render them more vulnerable to human predation. These ancient populations were exceptionally adept hunters.”
Dr. Chatters remarked, “One had a confluence of a highly sophisticated hunting culture—benefiting from skills honed over ten millennia in Eurasia—encountering naive megafaunal populations experiencing environmental pressures.”
The research team’s groundbreaking findings are disseminated in the current issue of the esteemed journal Science Advances.
_____
James C. Chatters et al. 2024. Mammoth featured heavily in Western Clovis diet. Science Advances 10 (49); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adr3814
