Archaeologists Discover How Prehistoric Humans Hunted Mammoths, Other Megafauna in North America to Extinction

Archaeologists have unveiled new insights into the hunting strategies employed by prehistoric humans in North America, focusing on their interactions with large megafauna like mammoths.

The findings, detailed in the journal PLOS ONE, suggest that these ancient hunters utilized specially designed stone tools known as Clovis points to effectively hunt their massive prey, Newsweek reports.

According to the research, Clovis points were strategically planted in the ground at an angle, poised to impale charging animals such as mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, and bison.

This method would have delivered fatal blows to these formidable creatures that roamed North America during the Pleistocene epoch.

The study introduces this technique as a novel approach to understanding prehistoric hunting methods.

Previously, scholars posited various uses for Clovis points, including attaching them to sticks for use as spears thrown or thrusted at prey, or for extracting resources from already wounded animals.

Named after the site of their initial discovery in Clovis, New Mexico, these tools are characterized by their sharp edges and symmetrical base indentations.

They were a common implement among North American hunters around 13,000 years ago, with many specimens found embedded in mammoth skeletons.

This latest study, spearheaded by Scott Byram of the University of California, Berkeley’s Archaeological Research Facility, reevaluates these historical assumptions.

By examining historical evidence and conducting experimental tests, Byram’s team argues that Clovis points were part of a complex hunting system designed to immobilize and fatally injure large animals via a stationary spear technique.

This would involve bracing the spear’s butt against the ground, using the animal’s own momentum against it to ensure penetration.

The research team’s experimental simulations showed that the impact of a charging animal on a Clovis point spear could cause extensive internal damage, similar to that of a modern-day hollow-point bullet.

“The kind of energy that you can generate with the human arm is nothing like the kind of energy generated by a charging animal. It’s an order of magnitude different,” explained Jun Sunseri, co-author of the study and an associate professor of anthropology at Berkeley.

These findings highlight the early humans’ reliance not just on physical strength but on their innovative capabilities to develop effective hunting strategies.

“This ancient Native American design was an amazing innovation in hunting strategies,” Byram remarked.

“This distinctive Indigenous technology is providing a window into hunting and survival techniques used for millennia throughout much of the world,” the scholar added.

Sunseri stressed the importance of considering Clovis points within a broader technological framework.

“You have to look beyond the simple artifact. One of the things that’s key here is that we’re looking at this as an engineered system that requires multiple kinds of sub-specialties within our field and other fields,” he said.

Kent Lightfoot, a Berkeley anthropology professor involved in the study, noted the advanced nature of Clovis technology as a testament to the ingenuity of early Indigenous peoples.

“The sophisticated Clovis technology that developed independently in North America is testimony to the ingenuity and skills that early Indigenous people employed in their cohabitation of the ancient landscape with now-extinct megafauna,” he stated.

Looking forward, the Berkeley team plans to further validate their hypothesis by constructing a replica mammoth and simulating an attack with Clovis-tipped pikes, using a slide or pendulum to mimic the force of a large, fast-moving animal.

This experimental approach aims to provide deeper insights into the practical application of these ancient tools in real hunting scenarios.

“[The research] puts pike hunting front and center with extinct megafauna. It opens up a whole new way of looking at how people lived among these incredible animals during much of human history,” Byram concluded.

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