The Geochronological and Geoarchaeological Context of the Clovis-Age La Prele Mammoth Site (48CO1401), Converse County, Wyoming

Allaun, Sarah A.; Surovell, Todd A.; Vance Haynes, C.; Pelton, Spencer R.; Mackie, Madeline E.; Kelly, Robert L.; O’Brien, Matthew; Sanders, Paul H.; Capriles, José M.; Mahan, Shannon

doi:10.1080/20555563.2023.2245191

PaleoAmerica

2023

DOI: 10.1080/20555563.2023.2245191

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The Geochronological and Geoarchaeological Context of the Clovis-Age La Prele Mammoth Site (48CO1401), Converse County, Wyoming

Sarah A. Allaun,

Todd A. Surovell,

C. Vance Haynes

et al.

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

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Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead

Surovell,

Litynski,

Allaun

et al. 2024

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A tubular bone bead dating to ~ 12,940 BP was recovered from a hearth-centered activity area at the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, Wyoming, USA. This is the oldest known bead from the Western Hemisphere. To determine the taxonomic origin of the bead, we extracted collagen for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS). We also used micro-CT scanning for morphological analysis to determine likely skeletal elements used for its production. We conclude that the bead was made from a metapodial or proximal phalanx of a hare (Lepus sp.). This find represents the first secure evidence for the use of hares during the Clovis period. While the use of hare bone for the manufacture of beads was a common practice in western North America during the Holocene, its origins can now be traced back to at least the terminal Pleistocene.

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Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead

Surovell,

Litynski,

Allaun

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Early Paleoindian use of canids, felids, and hares for bone needle production at the La Prele site, Wyoming, USA

Pelton,

Litynski,

Allaun

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles. Archaeologists have used the tailored, fur-fringed garments of high latitude foragers as modern analogs for the clothes of Paleolithic foragers, arguing that the appearance of bone needles and fur bearer remains in archaeological sites c. 40,000 BP is indirect evidence for the advent of tailored garments at this time. These garments partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas ca. 14,500 BP. Despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal, archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation. We use Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning to establish that bone needles at the ca. 12,900 BP La Prele site (Wyoming, USA) were produced from the bones of canids, felids, and hares. We propose that these bones were used by the Early Paleoindian foragers at La Prele because they were scaled correctly for bone needle production and readily available within the campsite, having remained affixed to pelts sewn into complex garments. Combined with a review of comparable evidence from other North American Paleoindian sites, our results suggest that North American Early Paleoindians had direct access to fur-bearing predators, likely from trapping, and represent some of the most detailed evidence yet discovered for Paleoindian garments.

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The Geochronological and Geoarchaeological Context of the Clovis-Age La Prele Mammoth Site (48CO1401), Converse County, Wyoming

Cited by 2 publications

References 43 publications

Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead

Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead

Early Paleoindian use of canids, felids, and hares for bone needle production at the La Prele site, Wyoming, USA

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