1936:
Portales Daily News. Note that there was no “Clovis” cultural group yet…\
Click HERE for the pdf, with bonus Coronado article OR link below:
http://theclovissite.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/pdn1936.pdf
The most recent New Mexico Archaeological Council newsletter is out. this issue focuses on Paleoindian archaeology and includes a short article of recent activities at the Clovis site. Click here to download. If you are a New Mexican, or have an interest in the archaeology of our fine state, consider joining NMAC.
2013-2
Paleoindian Archaeology in New Mexico
Contents:
In Memorium: Patrick Culbert
Introduction
Current Research and Investigations at Blackwater Draw, NM
Recent Research at the Mockingbird Gap Clovis Site
New Finds at the Water Canyon Paleoindian Site
Recent Paleoindian Studies at Spaceport America
Interpreting the Paleoindian Signature of Southeast New Mexico
Late Paleoindian Projectile Point Technology
Annalisa is a blogging archaeologist and artist living in Alaska. This is a reblog of her SAA poster from this year. Check out her Tumblr which contains many good archaeology bits as well as other interests from her life.
A couple of months ago, Yevgeny Salinder, an 11 year old Russian boy, discovered a 30,000 year old mammoth thawing from the permafrost in the arctic Krasnoyarsk region. I have been hoping to hear more about this remarkable find but, of course, these things take time.
There is already some important information coming out about this find, including the discovery of large fat storage in the form of a hump on the mammoth’s back, confirming images from the Pleistocene depicting the humped back. Previously the hump in the art work was attributed to large thoracic spines but now it seems to be more camel-like soft tissue. Intact organs should tell us more about the animal and it’s environment than we have known. As the Arctic ice recedes, it seems we will find more and more of these specimens being exposed.
Links to this story can be found here:
http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/04-10-2012/122353-mammoth_remains_found-0/
A fun, and remarkably good-looking, mammoth sculpture in Bluff, Utah. Set to burn on the solstice to honor the mammoth petroglyphs found nearby. I love Bluff and wish I could get up there for the event.
From Nature…
Study suggests Beringia’s shaggy behemoths went extinct after a slow and gradual decline.
“Why are there no more woolly mammoths? The last isolated island populations of these huge beasts disappeared about 4,000 years ago — well after the Pleistocene extinction that wiped out much of the world’s megafauna — but what triggered their demise remains a frustrating mystery. According to the latest study to contribute to the ongoing debate, the last mammoths disappeared after a long, slow decline in numbers rather than because of a single cause.” Read on.
The Yuka Mammoth. A very interesting and important find from Siberia tells us some harsh facts about its demise. Investigators believe it was taken by a large predator, possibly a lion, then stolen away by humans. ”Even more interesting, there are hints that humans may have taken over the kill at an early stage.”
Tusk and tooth analysis indicate that the mammoth was about two and a half years old when it died. I haven’t seen an academic publication yet but hope to read more about it soon. The dates discussed are tentatively about 10,000 years old, placing the find near the end of our Paleoindian period. Healed wounds on the hide suggest that the young mammoth survived an earlier attack but fresh wounds were likely related to the cause of death. Later cuts on the hide and bones, with the subsequent removal of the skull, ribs, and pelvis are believed to be caused by humans. Hopefully, further investigations with clarify the human interaction.
Soft tissue preservation is rare and will add greatly to our general knowledge of this extinct species. Read the story here.
Below is a great link to learn more about Eurasian mammoths, brought to you by the BBC.
A new work by Jud Turner caught my attention as I really want a mammoth representation for the Clovis site. Much of his work is from found or salvaged objects but have a distinctly biological “feel”.
I know it doesn’t really aide the viewer in any scientific way but I think the sense of scale is transmitted by life-size representations, whether three-dimensional, flat, or even abstract. The construction photos on his site are fairly impressive due to the scale of the project.
This is one of Blackwater Draw’s most notable artifacts pictured in situ in 1963. The detailed photo is great for scale and the top photo shows its association with mammoth remains. The knife is made of Edwards Plateau chert and was found in perfect condition as were other stone tools and points from this mammoth kill. The abundance of complete stone tools associated with this mammoth kill has led researchers to speculate that they were abandoned amidst butchering activities.
Illustration of a worked mammoth tusk excavated and on display at the Blackwater Draw site.
Archaeologically speaking, finding the raw material (mammoth ivory), or finding finished tools (ivory rods, shaft wrenches…), is far more common than finding ivory in the process of being modified. The stone tool marks on this artifact are quite distinctive and clearly visible to the naked eye. Read more about this interesting artifact in the 1990 article written by Jeffrey Saunders et al. Dr. Saunders is responsible for most of the identification and stabilization of the faunal remains excavated during the 1960s. He is currently a curator at the Illinois State Museum and his work is displayed with pride at the BWD site’s visitor center.
Saunders, J.J., C. Vance Haynes, Jr., Dennis Stanford, and George A. Agogino
1990 A Mammoth-Ivory Semi-fabricate from Blackwater Locality No. 1, New Mexico. American Antiquity 55:112-119.
