Published Jan 30, 2024 by Yereth Rosen Chemical analysis of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk found that the animal, a healthy female that trekked about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Canada’s Yukon Territory before dying at 20 in Interior Alaska, had territory that overlapped that of early humans.
The chemical fingerprints in the tusk, combined with DNA analysis of the bones of two young mammoths found in the area, create a compelling case that the people who lived in Pleistocene-era Alaska hunted the giant animals, according to research led by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists. The findings are detailed in the journal Science Advances. The mammoth was discovered in 2009 and named Élmayųujey’eh, or Elma for short. The name, bestowed by the Healy Lake Tribal Council of Interior Alaska, translates to something not beautiful but very striking in appearance.
Found along with Elma’s tusk were remains of two juvenile mammoths – the ribs that held meat known to be used elsewhere by ancient humans. They died near a spot along the Tanana River known as Swan Point, which is the earliest confirmed human habitation site in Alaska. Isotope analysis of the tusk shows a life’s journey that began in the vicinity of ancient human settlements in Canada.
Though there is not a “smoking gun” showing that Elma was killed by hunters, there is a “preponderance of data” supporting that conclusion, said Matthew Wooller, a coauthor and director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at UAF, where the chemical analysis was conducted. Elma’s journey started in the vicinity of known sites of ancient human habitation in Canada and ended abruptly in the vicinity of a known human habitation site in Alaska, where campsites hold evidence of hunting in general, such as remains of other animals and blades typically used in hunting. “So it’s just uncanny to us,” Wooler said.
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