Palaeoindian artefact distributions: evidence and implications

Anderson, David G.; Faught, Michael K.

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00059846

Cited by 66 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…These data are evidence that humans were present on the Northern Channel Islands when contemporary Paleoindian peoples were well distributed throughout North America and used a wide diversity of available resources including the hunting of large game animals with Clovis spear points (Haynes, 2005;Waters and Stafford, 2007). Clovis points and related technology, although found on the adjacent mainland and throughout much of North America (Anderson and Faught, 2000;Erlandson et al, 2007;Rondeau et al, 2007), have not been found on the Northern Channel Islands, but the potential overlap between the most recently dated M. exilis skeleton and the Arlington skeletal material suggests that humans may well have encountered these animals at this early date. Regardless, early human presence on these islands provides unequivocal evidence for seaworthy boats and sufficient skill to safely navigate the Santa Barbara Channel ).…”

Section: Late Quaternary Archaeological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Wildfire and abrupt ecosystem disruption on California's Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød–Younger Dryas boundary (13.0–12.9ka)

Kennett

West

et al. 2008

Quaternary Science Reviews

130

170

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a b s t r a c tSedimentary records from California's Northern Channel Islands and the adjacent Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) indicate intense regional biomass burning (wildfire) at the Ållerød-Younger Dryas boundary (w13.0-12.9 ka) (All age ranges in this paper are expressed in thousands of calendar years before present [ka]. Radiocarbon ages will be identified and clearly marked '' 14 C years''.). Multiproxy records in SBB Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) Site 893 indicate that these wildfires coincided with the onset of regional cooling and an abrupt vegetational shift from closed montane forest to more open habitats. Abrupt ecosystem disruption is evident on the Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød-Younger Dryas boundary with the onset of biomass burning and resulting mass sediment wasting of the landscape. These wildfires coincide with the extinction of Mammuthus exilis [pygmy mammoth]. The earliest evidence for human presence on these islands at 13.1-12.9 ka (w11,000-10,900 14 C years) is followed by an apparent 600-800 year gap in the archaeological record, which is followed by indications of a larger-scale colonization after 12.2 ka. Although a number of processes could have contributed to a post 18 ka decline in M. exilis populations (e.g., reduction of habitat due to sea-level rise and human exploitation of limited insular populations), we argue that the ultimate demise of M. exilis was more likely a result of continental scale ecosystem disruption that registered across North America at the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling episode, contemporaneous with the extinction of other megafaunal taxa. Evidence for ecosystem disruption at 13-12.9 ka on these offshore islands is consistent with the Younger Dryas boundary cosmic impact hypothesis [Firestone, R

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Section: Late Quaternary Archaeological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Wildfire and abrupt ecosystem disruption on California's Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød–Younger Dryas boundary (13.0–12.9ka)

Kennett

West

et al. 2008

Quaternary Science Reviews

130

170

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The impact-related effects would have been devastating for animals and plants. For humans, major adaptive shifts are evident at 12.9 ka, along with an inferred population decline, as subsistence strategies changed because of dramatic ecological change and the extinction, reduction, and displacement of key prey species (55,56). Many sites indicate that both Clovis people and extinct megafauna were present immediately before the YD event, but, except in rare cases, neither appears in the geologic record afterward.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling

Firestone

West²,

Kennett³

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

491

639

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A carbon-rich black layer, dating to Ϸ12.9 ka, has been previously identified at Ϸ50 Clovis-age sites across North America and appears contemporaneous with the abrupt onset of Younger Dryas (YD) cooling. The in situ bones of extinct Pleistocene megafauna, along with Clovis tool assemblages, occur below this black layer but not within or above it. Causes for the extinctions, YD cooling, and termination of Clovis culture have long been controversial. In this paper, we provide evidence for an extraterrestrial (ET) impact event at Х12.9 ka, which we hypothesize caused abrupt environmental changes that contributed to YD cooling, major ecological reorganization, broad-scale extinctions, and rapid human behavioral shifts at the end of the Clovis Period. Clovis-age sites in North American are overlain by a thin, discrete layer with varying peak abundances of (i) magnetic grains with iridium, (ii) magnetic microspherules, (iii) charcoal, (iv) soot, (v) carbon spherules, (vi) glass-like carbon containing nanodiamonds, and (vii) fullerenes with ET helium, all of which are evidence for an ET impact and associated biomass burning at Ϸ12.9 ka. This layer also extends throughout at least 15 Carolina Bays, which are unique, elliptical depressions, oriented to the northwest across the Atlantic Coastal Plain. We propose that one or more large, low-density ET objects exploded over northern North America, partially destabilizing the Laurentide Ice Sheet and triggering YD cooling. The shock wave, thermal pulse, and event-related environmental effects (e.g., extensive biomass burning and food limitations) contributed to end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and adaptive shifts among PaleoAmericans in North America.comet ͉ iridium ͉ micrometeorites ͉ nanodiamonds ͉ spherules

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“…For example, was there selection for new weapon-delivery systems that had to do with changing environments and thus changes in available game animals at the end of the Pleistocene? How much social interaction was there among terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene groups in the southeastern United States (Anderson, 1991;Anderson & Faught, 2000;Anderson & Gillam, 2000;Morrow & Morrow, 1999)? At base, these are all historical questions, and cladistics offers a means of framing phylogenetic hypotheses.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Issues in Archaeological Phylogenetics: Taxon Construction and Outgroup Selection

O’Brien

Lyman

Saab

et al. 2002

Journal of Theoretical Biology

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Palaeoindian artefact distributions: evidence and implications

Cited by 66 publications

References 15 publications

Wildfire and abrupt ecosystem disruption on California's Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød–Younger Dryas boundary (13.0–12.9ka)

Wildfire and abrupt ecosystem disruption on California's Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød–Younger Dryas boundary (13.0–12.9ka)

Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling

Two Issues in Archaeological Phylogenetics: Taxon Construction and Outgroup Selection

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