Taphonomic fieldwork in Southern Africa and its application in studies of the Earliest Peopling of North America

Abstract

Cutmarked and broken mammoth bones figure prominently in assertions that Homo sapiens dispersed into North America before the appearance of Clovis archeological culture, which is dated about 13 ka. Beside pre-dating Clovis, the bonesites differ from Clovis in that most lack lithic tools. Taphonomic studies, experimental replications, and arguments of plausibility have not perfectly supported or wholly disproved the assertions that the bonesites were created by human actions. Taphonomic and actualistic research in southern Africa reveals a wide range of noncultural and human-generated patterns in breaks, flakes, and cutmarks on modern elephant bones. These studies suggest that many (if not all) of the early modified mammoth remains do not indicate a pre-Clovis human presence.

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