The La Prele Mammoth Site, Converse County, Wyoming, USA

The La Prele Mammoth site is a Clovis archaeolog- ical site in Converse County, Wyoming (U.S.A.) that preserves chipped stone artifacts in spatial as- sociation with the remains of a subadult Columbi- an mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). The site was discovered in 1986 and initially tested by George Frison in 1987, but work ceased there until 2014 due to a disagreement with the landowner. In the intervening years, questions arose as to whether the artifacts and mammoth remains were truly associated, and the site was largely dismissed by American archaeologists. Recent excavations have not only demonstrated that La Prele was the loca- tion of a mammoth kill by Clovis hunters around 12,850 years ago, but it also preserves a campsite in close proximity to the kill. The camp includes multiple hearth-centered activity areas that appear to represent domestic spaces, reflected by the pres- ence of a diversity of stone tool forms, bone nee- dles, a bone bead, a large area of hematite-stained matrix, and the butchered and cooked remains of at least one other large mammal species. The site has the potential to inform us about aspects of the social organization of Clovis bands, particularly with respect to mammoth hunting and butchery.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Visualisation en ligne des données de : Barger Gulch Locality B (Paléoindien, Folsom) avec l'application web archeoViz

Online data visualisation of: Barger Gulch Locality B (Paleoindian, Folsom) using the archeoViz web applicationhttps://analytics.huma-num.fr/archeoviz/barger-gulchhttps://analytics.huma-num.fr/archeoviz/barger-gulc

Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead

Abstract A tubular bone bead dating to ~ 12,940 BP was recovered from a hearth-centered activity area at the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, Wyoming, USA. This is the oldest known bead from the Western Hemisphere. To determine the taxonomic origin of the bead, we extracted collagen for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS). We also used micro-CT scanning for morphological analysis to determine likely skeletal elements used for its production. We conclude that the bead was made from a metapodial or proximal phalanx of a hare (Lepus sp.). This find represents the first secure evidence for the use of hares during the Clovis period. While the use of hare bone for the manufacture of beads was a common practice in western North America during the Holocene, its origins can now be traced back to at least the terminal Pleistocene

Late date of human arrival to North America: Continental scale differences in stratigraphic integrity of pre-13,000 BP archaeological sites

By 13,000 BP human populations were present across North America, but the exact date of arrival to the continent, especially areas south of the continental ice sheets, remains unclear. Here we examine patterns in the stratigraphic integrity of early North American sites to gain insight into the timing of first colonization. We begin by modeling stratigraphic mixing of multicomponent archaeological sites to identify signatures of stratigraphic integrity in vertical artifact distributions. From those simulations, we develop a statistic we call the Apparent Stratigraphic Integrity Index (ASI), which we apply to pre- and post-13,000 BP archaeological sites north and south of the continental ice sheets. We find that multiple early Beringian sites dating between 13,000 and 14,200 BP show excellent stratigraphic integrity. Clear signs of discrete and minimally disturbed archaeological components do not appear south of the ice sheets until the Clovis period. These results provide support for a relatively late date of human arrival to the Americas