By Deutsche Welle
Aug 25, 2024, 9:59 PM EDT
A group of archaeologists announced the surprising discovery of the skull of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) that lived in North America about 13,600 years agoaccording to a statement from the University of Iowa, United States.
The first fossil remains of the prehistoric animal were discovered in 2022 on private property in Wayne County. After receiving the tip, researchers went to the site this year and found a tusk, only to later realize that the skull of the prehistoric animal was also there.
Differences with mammoths and elephants
Mastodons are large extinct mammals that are related to elephants and mammoths. These inhabited North America until about 10,500 years ago and would have weighed just over six tons.
Unlike their relatives, mastodons lived in the forest. Their teeth were adapted to crushing trees and tougher shrubs, rather than cutting grasses and herbs like plains mammoths.
Interaction with humans
The discovery is believed to be that of a young mastodon, which according to radiocarbon dating, It would be about 13,600 years old, a significant date for scientists, since it coincides with the human occupation of the area.
Human-made artifacts, such as stone tools, were also found at the excavation site. Although these date back a few thousand years after the mastodon skull, they are the first finds confirming human presence in the area.
“We hope to find evidence of human interaction with this creature. “Perhaps the projectile points and knives that were used to kill and dismember the animal,” says archaeologist John Doershuk of the University of Iowa in the report.
“There is also potential evidence in the bones themselves – there could be identifiable cut marks,” he adds.
What was it like to live in Iowa at that time?
In statements reported by Smithsonian Magazine, Doeshuk explains that during the last ice age the northern part of the state of Iowa was “probably under ice.”
However, the southern part, where the mastodon specimen was found, was free of ice at that time and vegetation was beginning to appear.
Therefore, “Animals such as mastodons came to browse, and human hunters would have also found a hospitable place there,” assures.
Scientists will now wait to perform further tests on the fossil remains found, in order to determine more information about the mastodon specimen, for example, its sex or estimated age.
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