Cerutti Mastodon site: Difference between revisions
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The Cerutti Mastodon site (SDNHM locality 3767) is a paleontological site located in San Diego County, California, United States. A team of researchers from the San Diego Natural History Museum, lead by Thomas Deméré, excavated the site from 1992 to 1993.[1] The site is named after Richard Cerutti, another paleontologist from the museum who is credited with discovering the site during freeway expansion of State Route 54.[2][1] The research team found cobbles and broken mastodon bones lying together at the site.[3] Uranium-thorium dating of bones from the site estimates a dating of around 130,700 (±9,400) years ago for the Cerutti Mastodon site.[3] The research team claims that the cobbles found at the site were used as hammerstones and anvils.[3] The research team also claims that the mastodon bones show signs of intentional breakage by hominins.[3] If so, this would indicate that some form of Homo was present in the Americas at an extremely early age.[4][1]
Finds
The fossil remains of a juvenile male Mammut americanum (SDNHM 49926) were discovered in stratigraphic layer Bed E at the site: the recovered bones include 2 tusks, 3 molars, 4 vertebrae, 16 ribs, 2 phalanx bones, 2 sesamoids and over 300 other bone fragments.[3] The remains of dire wolf, horse, camel, mammoth and ground sloth were also discovered at the site.[3] 5 cobbles were also recovered from the site in Bed E.[3]
Criticism
Since generally accepted scientific consensus currently places the peopling of the Americas at a much later date, many researchers are highly skeptical of the finds.[4][1] Several critics have argued that the evidence from the site did not definitively rule out the possibility that the cobbles may have been altered due to natural causes.[4][1] Other critics also cite the lack of lithic artefacts and debris, generally found at sites associated with lithic tool manufacturing, at the Cerutti Mastodon site.[1]
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Greshko, Michael (2017). "Humans in California 130,000 Years Ago? Get the Facts". National Geographic. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Holen, Steven R.; Deméré, Thomas A.; Fisher, Daniel C.; Fullagar, Richard; Paces, James B.; Jefferson, George T.; Beeton, Jared M.; Cerutti, Richard A.; Rountrey, Adam N.; Vescera, Lawrence; Holen, Kathleen A. (2017). "A 130,000-year-old archaeological site in southern California, USA". Nature. 544 (7651): 479–483. doi:10.1038/nature22065. ISSN 0028-0836.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Katz, Brigit (2017). "Remarkable New Evidence for Human Activity in North America 130,000 Years Ago". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - "Mastodon discovery in San Diego shakes up our understanding of early humans in the new world". University of Michigan News. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-04-26.