Mammoth Ivory Rods in Eastern Beringia: Earliest in North America. Issue 1 (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wygal, Brian T.; Krasinski, Kathryn E.; Holmes, Charles E.; Crass, Barbara A.; Smith, Kathlyn M.
• Is Part Of: American antiquity. Volume 87:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 59
• Page End: 79
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: late Pleistocene -- osseous rods -- peopling of the Americas; Pleistoceno tardío -- varillas oseas -- colonización de las Américas; North America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- North America -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- America -- Periodicals; Anthropology -- America -- Periodicals; North America -- History -- Periodicals; America -- History -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 970
• DOI: 10.1017/aaq.2021.63
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7316

Abstract

Abstract : The Holzman archaeological site, located along Shaw Creek in interior Alaska, contained two mammoth ivory rods, of which one is bi-beveled, within a stratigraphically sealed cultural context. Dated 13, 600–13, 300 cal BP, these are the earliest known examples of osseous rod technology in the Americas. Beveled ivory, antler, and bone rods and points share technological similarities between Upper Paleolithic Europe, Asia, eastern Beringia, and the Clovis tradition of North America and are important tool types in understanding the late Pleistocene dispersal of modern humans. The Holzman finds are comparable to well-known Clovis tradition artifacts from Anzick (Montana), Blackwater Draw (New Mexico), East Wenatchee (Washington), and Sherman Cave (Ohio). We describe these tools in the broader context of late Pleistocene osseous technology with implications for acquisition and use of mammoth ivory in eastern Beringia and beyond.