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1.
The global climate changings at the end of Pleistocene led to extinction of the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna–mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, bison, muskox, cave lion, etc.–on the huge territories of Northern Eurasia. Undoubtedly the Mammoth fauna underwent pressure from the Upper Paleolithic Man, whose hunting activity also could play the role in decreasing the number of mammoths and other representatives of megafauna (large mammals). Archaeological data testify that the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna were the Man's hunting objects only till the end of the Pleistocene. Their bone remains are not usually found on the settlements of Mesolithic Man. Formerly it was supposed that the megafauna of ‘Mammoth complex’ was extinct by the beginning of Holocene. Nevertheless the latest data testify that the global extinction of the Mammoth fauna was sufficiently delayed in the north of Eastern Siberia. In the 1990s some radiocarbon data testified that the mammoths on the Wrangel Island existed for a long time during the Holocene from 8000 till 3700 y. BP. The present radiocarbon data show that wild horses inhabited the north of Eastern Siberia (the lower stream of the Enissey river, the Novosibirskie Islands, the East Siberian sea-shore) 3000–2000 y. BP. Musk-oxen lived on the Taimyr Peninsula and the Lena River delta about 3000 y. BP. Some bison remains from Eastern Siberia belong to the Holocene. The following circumstances could promote the process of preservation of the Mammoth fauna representatives. The cool and dry climate of this region promotes the maintenance of steppe associations – habitats of those mammals. The Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlements are not found in the Arctic zone of Eastern Siberia from the Taimyr Peninsula to a lower stream of the Yana River; they are very rare in the basins of the Indigirka and Kolyma Rivers. So, the small number of the Stone Age hunting tribes on the North of Eastern Siberia was another factor in the long-term preservation of some Mammoth fauna representatives.  相似文献   

2.
Global climate change at the end of Pleistocene led to extinction in the huge territories of Northern Eurasia of the typical representatives of the Mammoth fauna: mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, bison, musk-ox, and cave lion. Undoubtedly the Mammoth fauna underwent pressure from Upper Paleolithic humans, whose hunting activity could also have played a role in decreasing the number of mammoths and other representatives of megafauna. Formerly it was supposed that the megafauna of the “Mammoth complex” had become extinct by the beginning of the Holocene. Nevertheless the latest data indicate that extinction of the Mammoth fauna was significantly delayed in the north of Eastern Siberia. In the 1990s some radiocarbon dates established that mammoths existed in the Holocene on Wrangel Island—from 7700 until 3700 yBP. Radiocarbon data show that wild horses inhabited the north of Eastern Siberia 4600–2000 yBP. Muskoxen lived here about 3000 yBP. Some bison remains from Eastern Siberia belong to the Holocene. The following circumstances could promote the survival of representatives of Mammoth fauna. Cool and dry climate in this region promotes the maintenance of steppe associations—the habitats of those mammals. Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlements are not found in the Arctic zone of Eastern Siberia from Taimyr Peninsula to the lower Yana River; they are very rare in basins of the Indigirka and Kolyma Rivers. The small number of Stone Age hunting tribes in the northern part of Eastern Siberia was probably another factor that contributed to the survival of some Mammoth fauna representatives.  相似文献   

3.
Qagnaxˆ Cave, a lava tube cave on St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs, has recently produced a mid-Holocene vertebrate faunal assemblage including woolly mammoth, polar bear, caribou, and Arctic fox. Several dates on the mammoth remains converge on 5700 14C yr BP. These dates, ~ 2300 yr younger than mammoth dates previously published from the Pribilof Islands, make these the youngest remains of proboscideans, and of non-extinct Quaternary megafauna, recovered from North America. Persistence of mammoths on the Pribilofs is most parsimoniously explained by the isolation of the Pribilofs and the lack of human presence in pre-Russian contact times, but an additional factor may have been the local existence of high-quality forage in the form of grasses enriched by nutrients derived from local Holocene tephras. This interpretation is reinforced by stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values obtained from the mammoth remains. The endpoint of mammoth survival in the Pribilofs is unknown, but maybe coterminous with the arrival of polar bears whose remains in the cave date to the Neoglacial cold period of ~ 4500 to 3500 14C yr BP. The polar bear record corroborates a widespread cooling of the Bering Sea region at that time.  相似文献   

4.
A set of radiocarbon dates on woolly mammoth were obtained from several regions of Arctic Siberia: the New Siberian Islands (n = 68), north of the Yana-Indigirka Lowland (n = 43), and the Taimyr Peninsula (n = 18). Based on these and earlier published dates (n = 201) from the East Arctic, a comparative analysis of the time-related density distribution of 14C dates was conducted. It was shown that the frequencies of 14C dates under certain conditions reflect temporal fluctuations in mammoth numbers. At the end of the Pleistocene the number of mammoths in the East Arctic changed in a cyclic manner in keeping with a general “Milankovitch-like” trend. The fluctuations in numbers at the end of the Pleistocene occurred synchronously with paleoenvironmental changes controlled by global climatic change. There were three minima of relative mammoth numbers during the last 50 000 years: 22 000, 14 500–19 000, and 9500 radiocarbon years ago, or around 26 000, 16–20 000, and 10 500 calendar years respectively. The last mammoths lived on the New Siberian Islands, which were connected to the continent at that time, 9470 ± 40 radiocarbon years ago (10 700 ± 70 calendar years BP). This new youngest date approximates the extinction time of mammoths in the last continental refugium of the Holarctic. The adverse combination of environmental parameters was apparently a major factor in the critical reduction in mammoth numbers. The dispersal of humans into the Arctic areas of Siberia no later than 28 000 radiocarbon years ago did not overtly influence animal numbers. Humans were not responsible for the destruction of a sustainable mammoth population. The expanding human population could have become fatal to mammoths during strong the minima of their numbers, one of which occurred at the very beginning of the Holocene.  相似文献   

5.
Unglaciated parts of the Yukon constitute one of the most important areas in North America for yielding Pleistocene vertebrate fossils. Nearly 30 vertebrate faunal localities are reviewed spanning a period of about 1.6 Ma (million years ago) to the close of the Pleistocene some 10 000 BP (radiocarbon years before present, taken as 1950). The vertebrate fossils represent at least 8 species of fishes, 1 amphibian, 41 species of birds and 83 species of mammals. Dominant among the large mammals are: steppe bison (Bison priscus), horse (Equus sp.), woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) – signature species of the Mammoth Steppe fauna (Fig. 1), which was widespread from the British Isles, through northern Europe, and Siberia to Alaska, Yukon and adjacent Northwest Territories. The Yukon faunas extend from Herschel Island in the north to Revenue Creek in the south and from the Alaskan border in the west to Ketza River in the east. The Yukon holds evidence of the earliest-known people in North America. Artifacts made from bison, mammoth and caribou bones from Bluefish Caves, Old Crow Basin and Dawson City areas show that people had a substantial knowledge of making and using bone tools at least by 25 000 BP, and possibly as early as 40 000 BP. A suggested chronological sequence of Yukon Pleistocene vertebrates (Table 1) facilitates comparison of selected faunas and indicates the known duration of various taxa.  相似文献   

6.
The causes of large animal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene remain a hotly debated topic focused primarily on the effects of human over hunting and climate change. Here we examine multiple, large radiocarbon data sets for humans and extinct proboscideans and explore how variation in their temporal and geographic distributions were related prior to proboscidean extinction. These data include 4532 archaeological determinations from Europe and Siberia and 1177 mammoth and mastodont determinations from Europe, Siberia, and North America. All span the period from 45,000 to 12,000 calendar years BP. We show that while the geographic ranges of dated human occupations and proboscidean remains overlap across the terminal Pleistocene of the Old World, the two groups remain largely segregated and increases in the frequency of human occupations do not coincide with declines in proboscidean remains. Prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ca 21,000 years BP), archaeological 14C determinations increase slightly in frequency worldwide while the frequency of dated proboscidean remains varies depending on taxon and location. After the LGM, both sympatric and allopatric groups of humans and proboscideans increase sharply as climatic conditions ameliorate. Post-LGM radiocarbon frequencies among proboscideans peak at different times, also depending upon taxon and location. Woolly mammoths in Beringia reach a maximum and then decline beginning between 16,000 and 15,500 years BP, woolly mammoths in Europe and Siberia ca 14,500 and 13,500 BP, and Columbian mammoth and American mastodont only after 13,000 BP. Declines among woolly mammoths appear to coincide with the restructuring of biotic communities following the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.  相似文献   

7.
Excavations at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site yielded mammoth, bison, and two possible artifacts in a single colluvial stratum, with radiocarbon bone dates ∼17 ka. Eight infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) samples were collected to establish general ages of site strata, returning multi‐grain estimates consistent with stratigraphic integrity and the radiocarbon dates. Four additional IRSL samples were collected to estimate the depositional age of one artifact found in place. These produced a pooled total of 94 single‐grain estimates from near the artifact, 80% averaging 16.8 ± 0.9 ka, and 20% averaging 5.1 ± 0.5 ka. These results could be interpreted to demonstrate pre‐Clovis age artifact deposition consistent with the bone dates, or a mid to late Holocene intrusion into older deposits, possibly by bioturbation. The single‐grain IRSL dates do not provide proof of pre‐Clovis presence beyond reasonable doubt at this site, but do show that this technique is valuable in assessing the stratigraphic integrity needed for any such claim.  相似文献   

8.
The Saltville Valley of southwestern Virginia contains an abundance of extinct Late Pleistocene megafauna. Recent excavations in the valley produced two particularly notable discoveries, the remains of a scavenged mammoth ( Mammuthus sp.) and a giant short-faced bear ( Arctodus simus ). The bear is the first carnivoran record from Saltville, and its large dental dimensions, dentary proportions, and exceptionally short-face, evince an exceedingly powerful bite for this individual. Mammoth remains are relatively abundant from Saltville, but the material described here preserves extreme examples of scavenging by carnivores. Based on comparisons with the feeding behavior and bone alteration patterns of extant hyenas, cats, wolves, and bears, we conclude that at least two types of large carnivorans scavenged this mammoth carcass. AMS radiocarbon dates of 14 510 ± 55 14C yr BP on the Mammuthus and 14 853 ± 55 14C yr BP on the A. simus demonstrate that they are nearly the same age. Very few direct radiocarbon dates on A. simus have been reported from the contiguous United States. The Saltville A. simus represents the most eastern date for the species, as well as the only date from the Appalachian Highlands.  相似文献   

9.
Kuzmin, Y. V. 2009: Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00122.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The current evidence for date and environmental preferences of the extinction of two middle–late Pleistocene megafaunal species, the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum.), is presented in this review. It is suggested that extinction of these large herbivores in Eurasia was closely related to landscape changes near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary (c. 12 000–9000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years ago, yr BP), mainly involving the widespread forest formations in the temperate and arctic regions of northern Eurasia and the loss of grasslands crucial to the existence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. However, some woolly mammoth populations survived well into the Holocene (up to c. 3700 yr BP), showing that the process of final extinction was fairly complex, with delays in some regions of up to several millennia. The possible role of Palaeolithic humans in the extinction of Late Pleistocene megafauna is also considered.  相似文献   

10.
Mammoth remains on Santa Cruz Island, one of the four Northern Channel Islands of California, are very sparse, in marked contrast to those reported from Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands of the same island group. A probable major reason for this scarcity is that Quaternary deposits are greatly restricted on Santa Cruz Island. It is proposed, contrary to popular opinion, that fossils found on Santa Cruz Island were derived from animals which died on the island, and were not transported there by humans. Reasons for this conclusion are that the size and geological context of the fossils are similar to those of the largest mammoth fossils of Santa Rosa Island, and that, in spite of extensive investigations by many persons, mammoth remains have not been found in middens, either on the islands or on the adjacent mainland.  相似文献   

11.
Excavations at Sevsk, Bryansk Region, Russia, by the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1988–1991 recovered 3800 bones of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) representing a minimum of 33 individuals. The locality is one of the largest naturally occurring deposits of mammoth remains in Europe and is inferred to be a catastrophic death assemblage. The material includes five skeletons of juvenile mammoths, from 1 month to 6 or 7 years of age, as well as partial skeletons and isolated bones of adult individuals. A femur and humerus of an approximately 10–12-month-old fetus are also among the finds. Morphological features suggest that the Sevsk mammoths belonged to one family group; the age structure and sexual composition of the assemblage do not differ significantly from that of a family group of Modern African elephants. In contrast to other localities in Siberia and central Russia, relatively more (about 45% of individuals) prepubertal animals are preserved at Sevsk. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the mammoths died about 14,000 years ago. Data from diatoms, pollen and rodents, as well as archeological evidence, corroborate this age, and provide the basis for a paleoenvironmental reconstruction at the end of the Valdaian Glaciation in western Russia.  相似文献   

12.
Patterns in the spatial or temporal distribution of genotypes may be indicative of natural selection. Previous work on the woolly mammoth melanocortin-1 receptor (Mc1r) gene identified three polymorphic positions that suggest Pleistocene populations may have harboured both light- and dark-haired mammoths (Rompler et al., 2006, 313: 62). Here, we extend this work and present the first population-level analysis of a functional gene in an extinct species. We genotyped the Mc1r gene in 47 woolly mammoth samples excavated from sites across the central portion of the woolly mammoths’ former range to examine the extent of variation of this polymorphism through time and across space. Only one individual was found to be heterozygous, indicating that the frequency of the ‘light’ mutant allele was very low. We conclude that light-coloured woolly mammoths would have been very rare, and may even have been non-existent if the ‘light’ mutant allele was strongly selected against in its homozygotic form. With the increasing availability of large-scale sequencing technologies, population-level datasets capable of identifying local adaptation will become increasingly attainable.  相似文献   

13.
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14.
In the summer of 1960, mammoth bones were discovered by a dragline operator in southern Wyoming at the Union Pacific (U.P.) Mammoth site. Although subsequent archaeological work during 1960 and 1961 identified artifacts in association with the mammoth remains, many authors have since questioned the nature of that association. Also, little has been published about the site other than a brief article in National Geographic Magazine in 1962. In this paper, we present additional information on the U.P. Mammoth site including stratigraphic profiles from the first author's geoarchaeological work in 1961, stratigraphic and spatial location of bones and artifacts derived from the original field notes, and new radiocarbon dates. Although the precise stratigraphic provenance for many artifacts and skeletal elements remains unclear, a compelling argument can be made for spatial and stratigraphic association of the mammoth remains with the artifact assemblage suggesting some kind of human interaction with the animal.  相似文献   

15.
Woolly mammoths were large, herbivorous, cold-adapted mammals of the Late Pleistocene. The diet and habitat requirements of the species set certain constraints on the palaeoenvironments it could occupy. The relationship between the mammoth’s shifting range and changing environments can be explored using independent data on ice sheet configuration, temperature, and vegetation, provided the locality and age of the fossil remains can be validated. Here we present a comprehensive record of occurrence of the woolly mammoth in the circum-Baltic region of northern Europe during the last glaciation, based on a compilation of radiocarbon-dated remains. The record shows that the mammoth was widespread in northern and north-eastern Europe during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), at 50,000–30,000 calibrated years ago (50–30 ka). The presence of the species up to 65°N latitude supports the restriction of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) during MIS 3. The widest distribution range round 30 ka was followed by a decline that led to the disappearance of mammoths from the area during the maximum extent of the SIS, from 22 to 18 ka. The woolly mammoth re-colonized the Baltic region and southern Scandinavia after the onset of the late-glacial deglaciation at 17 ka. The late-glacial record suggests a markedly fluctuating population changing its range in tune with the rapid environmental changes. The last appearance of mammoth in our study region was in Estonia during the Younger Dryas (Greenland Stadial 1; GS1) at about 12 ka. The two major periods of occurrence during MIS 3 and the late-glacial stadial suggest that mammoth had a wide tolerance of open to semi-open tundra and steppe-tundra habitats with intermediately cold climate, whereas the 22–18 ka disappearance suggests a major southward and/or eastward retreat in response to extremely cold, glacial conditions near the SIS margin. The final regional extinction correlates with the re-forestation during the rapid warming at the Younger Dryas–Holocene boundary.  相似文献   

16.
A summary of previous and new research on the Schaefer mammoth site is presented. The Schaefer site in extreme southeastern Wisconsin, USA was excavated in 1992 and 1993. Seventy-five percent of a mammoth ?Mammuthus primigenius, the woolly mammoth (but comparable as well with M. jeffersonii, the Jefferson mammoth) was recovered. Drifted wood specimens and plant macro fossils were also recovered from the site.Twenty-five specimens of wood have been identified as Picea sp., Picea/Larix sp., or unidentified hardwood. Macro fossils in the form of cones have been identified as black spruce (Picea mariana). These preliminary data do not appear to support the traditional environment inferred for the woolly mammoth and points to a need for study of the animal's attribution to species. The animal was a male, 36 years of age at death.Thirteen AMS 14C assays on bone cluster between 12,290 and 12,570 BP. Sixteen dates on wood specimens intimately associated with bone yield a range of dates from 11,980 to 12,940 BP.The remains exhibit multiple cut and wedge marks interpreted as cultural. Non-diagnostic cultural lithics were recovered. A disarticulated bone pile deposited in a low energy environment is consistent with human interaction.  相似文献   

17.
This paper considers the data on new findings of mammoth fauna remains in the Middle Lena basin used to specify the species composition of large Late Neopleistocene mammals represented by eleven species. The obtained range of radiocarbon dates made it possible to state that mass burials of Pleistocene mammal remains were formed in the region during the Karginsk Interstadial (24 000–55 000 years ago).  相似文献   

18.
Here, we present and discuss results from geo‐archaeological and palaeo‐zoological investigations at the Palaeolithic site Pymva Shor, in the Russian Arctic. As many as 3324 vertebrate fauna remains were recovered during two excavations. This includes bones of mammals, birds and fish. Radiocarbon dates were obtained from 26 specimens. The results show ages in the range 30–3 cal. ka BP. Hare and reindeer are the best represented amongst the identified mammalian species, whilst ptarmigan and various wader species dominate the avian bones. The Pleistocene assemblage includes herbivorous herd animals such as horse, bison and musk ox. These species are typical of the treeless tundra‐steppe landscape that existed during the Lateglacial. Of particular interest is a cave lion specimen that has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 15.5 cal. ka BP. According to our knowledge, this is one of the latest dated examples of this species in Eurasia. The faunal composition in the Holocene assemblage is strikingly different and includes distinct forest taxa such as beaver and pine marten. The avifauna also supports a forested environment with the presence of black grouse. A few stone artefacts were found within the strata, and have been radiocarbon dated to 16–15 cal. ka BP, suggesting that there were humans in the Pymva Shore area at that time. We identified impact notches and cut marks on some radiocarbon‐dated reindeer and bison bones, showing that humans were present twice during the Younger Dryas period. A fourth occupation phase is identified during the mid‐Holocene (6–5 cal. ka BP). We also investigated river terraces and obtained a series of luminescence dates. These have been used to reconstruct the geological history and the relationship to the find‐bearing strata.  相似文献   

19.
The latest data on holes in the spinous processes of the vertebrae of woolly mammoths, a rare pathology, are presented. This was identified at 19 sites of northern Eurasia. Such destructive changes are recorded ca. 34–12k 14C a bp , and only two sites dated to >50k and >41k 14C a bp. The main hypotheses about hole formation are: vertebral abnormalities; bone infections; genetic traits; and unfavourable geochemical environment. The pathology occurred in mammoths of all age groups, and could have arisen at the embryonic stage. There are two types: classic holes associated with osteolytic changes; and very rarely tumour-like lesions. The most likely cause of the lesions is alimentary osteodystrophy caused by chronic mineral starvation. The aetiology of this disease is usually associated with a deficiency or excess of macro- and microelements in the geochemical landscape, and through forage and water this leads to a severe metabolic disorder. Analysis of palaeopathological data shows two waves of geochemical stress in animals, ca. 26–18k and ca. 16–12k 14C a bp. Therefore, the woolly mammoth extinction can be viewed as a non-linear function, with two peaks of high mortality corresponding to the Last Glacial Maximum and the Lateglacial.  相似文献   

20.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2007,26(7-8):954-957
The world's definite southernmost woolly mammoth record is a molar from Ji’nan (around 36°N), Shandong Province, China. AMS 14C dating of the specimen, gave a conventional 14C age of 33,150±250 BP. The period of 40–30 ka BP corresponds to the later phase of the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3a), recognized as the global interstadial of the last glacial period. However, it is known that the winter monsoon strengthened in Asia during the period 35–33 ka BP, and the age of the woolly mammoth specimen from Ji’nan corresponds to that age. The specimen suggests that this area became cold and dry in 33 ka BP, and grassland or open forest, suitable habitat for woolly mammoths, developed during this short time span. This age is similar to the age of the southernmost woolly mammoth record in Europe, therefore supporting a hypothesis by Porter and An [1995. Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation. Nature 375, 305–308] that an important component of Chinese palaeoclimates may be linked to changes in North Atlantic oceanic conditions.  相似文献   

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