Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology: From the Dent Site to the Rocky Mountains

5. Processing Marks on Remains of Mammuthus columbi from the Dent Site, Colorado, in Light of Those from Clovis, New Mexico: Fresh- Carcass Butchery Versus Scavenging?

155 Jeffrey J. Saunders C h a p t e r f i v e Processing Marks on Remains of Mammuthus columbi from the Dent Site, Colorado, in Light of Those from Clovis, New Mexico Fresh-Carcass Butchery versus Scavenging? In 1978 I examined skulls, mandibles, and teeth of the Dent site mammoth sample in storage at the Denver Museum of Natural History (DMNH)—now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science—and on exhibit in museums in Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Skulls, mandibles, and isolated teeth in the DMNH were assembled into dentitions that, with the skeletons in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, represented thirteen individuals. Age at death for these individuals was assigned on the basis of cheek tooth progression through the jaw and occlusal wear, using criteria for Loxodonta africana (African elephant) provided by Laws (1966). Individual ages of Dent mammoths were thus reported in African Elephant [Equivalent] Years (AEY) (Saunders 1980). From comparison of the Dent age profile with age profiles of other Clovisassociated mammoth samples, I concluded (Saunders 1980) that those from Dent Jeffrey J. Saunders 156 and the Lehner (Arizona) site, and probably those of mammoth samples from the Miami (Texas) and Colby (Wyoming) sites as well, were consistent with natural matriarchal family groups as observed in modern elephantids. In conjunction with gender-determination studies of the Hot Springs (South Dakota) mammoth sample, Lister and Agenbroad (1994) examined two incomplete adult pelvises from Dent in the DMNH. On the bases of oblique aperture height and ilium shaft width, these pelvises are attributed to female individuals. In their view, this finding corroborated the conclusion previously drawn on the basis of age profiles that the Dent mammoths represent one (or more) matriarchal family group(s) (Saunders 1980). It was suggested that “natural” age samples like Dent represented catastrophic mass kills of matriarchal groups by Clovis hunters (Saunders 1980). Results of renewed research at Dent concluded, from studies of dentinal banding in tusks and cheek teeth, two closely spaced late-fall and early-winter season-of-death events (Fisher and Fox, Chapter 4, this volume). This determination supported the view that the Dent individuals had been hunted but lessened the likelihood that a single event was represented. Contrast between “natural” age profiles and “non-natural” (i.e., nonfamily) mammoth age profiles like Murray Springs (Arizona) and Blackwater Draw (New Mexico; the El Llano Dig, Warnica 1966) suggested the latter two samples represented carcasses found and scavenged by Clovis foragers (Saunders 1980). The scavenging hypothesis was supported in a study of the remains of Mammoth 1 and Mammoth 2 recovered in 1936 at the Clovis type-site (Cotter 1937) in Blackwater Draw (Saunders and Daeschler 1994). The analysis of Mammoth 1 and Mammoth 2 (Saunders and Daeschler 1994) from the Clovis type-site forms the basis for a comparative bone modification data set against which the Dent sample is viewed. Other than Mammoth 1 and Mammoth 2 from Clovis, butchery discussions have centered primarily on samples from Lange-Ferguson, South Dakota (Hannus 1989), DuewallNewberry , Texas (Steele and Carlson 1989), some sites on the southern High Plains of New Mexico and Texas (Johnson 1989), and the northern High Plains at Colby, Wyoming (Frison and Todd 1986). The Colby discussions were limited, however, in part because of the poor preservation of the Colby bone (Frison and Todd 1986:33–43). Mammoth remains from Clovis and Dent, on the other hand, are well preserved. In addition, the Clovis material is extensively modified, and these modifications have been reported and several have been illustrated. For these reasons Clovis is currently the most suitable comparative sample available. The objectives of this chapter are to (1) document the patterns of modifications to mammoth postcranial elements from Dent, (2) compare these patterns with modification patterns previously recognized on corresponding material at the Clovis type-site, and (3) suggest possible explanations for differences, if differences are noted. Processing Marks on Remains of Mammuthus columbi from the Dent Site 157 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA The discovery of the Dent site and descriptions of 1932–1933 and subsequent investigations are described by Figgins (1933), Bilgery (1935), Wormington (1957), Sellards (1952), Spikard (1972), Brunswig and Fisher (1993), and in great detail by Brunswig in Chapter 3 of this volume. Aspects of the discovery and study area that are of particular importance to this chapter’s research results are noted here. The Dent mammoth bone stratum was found...