Broken Mammoth facts for kids

Broken Mammoth, Alaska is an amazing archeological site in the Tanana River Valley in Alaska, United States. This place was home to people about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest known sites in Alaska! A person named Charles E. Holmes found the site in 1989. Scientists started exploring it in 1990, and they are still digging and learning there today.

Who Lived There?

People lived at the Broken Mammoth site at least three different times. The most recent time was about 2,500 years ago. The very first people lived there between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago. We know this thanks to radiocarbon dating, which helps scientists figure out how old things are. This makes Broken Mammoth one of the oldest places where people lived in Alaska! It's possible that people lived here around the same time as other ancient sites in Alaska, like those from the Nenana complex.

Scientists have found hearths (old fireplaces) at the site. The charcoal from these hearths is about 12,200 years old. This means people probably used the site as a temporary camp. A small bone needle found near one of these hearths supports this idea. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources believes these were small camps. They were likely used by small hunting groups who stayed there for certain seasons. People probably made and fixed tools, prepared food, and worked with animal skins (like making clothes) at these camps.

Ancient Alaska: Climate and Resources

When the first people lived at Broken Mammoth, the area looked a lot like a lowland tundra. It had low plants, mostly shrubs, and only a few trees. Scientists know this by studying ancient pollen, which shows plants like dwarf birch and willow grew there.

About 9,000 years ago, this shrubland slowly changed into a forest. Spruce and alder trees started to grow. Finding bones of a red squirrel and a porcupine helps scientists know that this forestation process began more than 9,500 years ago. Around 10,000 years ago, the area became windier, and a type of soil called loess built up faster. After about 7,800 years ago, the weather became more like it is today, settling down after 5,700 years ago.

The layers of soil and sand at Broken Mammoth are very well preserved. This helps scientists figure out how old the site is. The ground is made of wind-blown sand and loess on top of older rock. These layers are divided into four main parts: A, B, C, and D. Layer A is the oldest, made of fine sand from about 12,000 years ago. The other layers (B, C, and D) are mostly made of loess. Layer B has three different ancient soil layers, with the oldest (B1) dating from 11,800 to 11,200 years ago.

The people who lived here had many different resources to use. They found large mammals, many kinds of birds (especially waterfowl), and some fish. There were many types of birds, including mallards, teals, swans, and geese. The site also has well-preserved bones of large animals like mammoths, elk (which are like large deer), caribou, and bison. It seems that bison and elk were very important for food.

It's possible that people hunted or found dead mammoths. However, they probably butchered any mammoth kills away from the main camp. No large mammoth bones have been found at the Broken Mammoth site. But people clearly used mammoth tusks as tools. This shows they had access to these huge animals. Some fossilized ivory tools are 20,000 to 18,000 years old. This means people collected old ivory to make tools. However, some ivory from the oldest layers at Broken Mammoth is about 13,525 years old. This matches the age of the hearths, suggesting people might have seen living mammoths around that time.

The evidence from this site suggests that these early groups of people moved around a lot. They followed the seasons and the animals. They used the different resources and wildlife by catching herd animals (like bison and elk) and migratory birds as they moved. These people were good hunters of large animals like bison. But there is little proof that they hunted mammoths often. It's thought that their tools might have allowed them to hunt a mammoth if they had the chance. But mammoths were probably not a main food source. It's much more likely that the ivory tools they made from mammoth tusks came from mammoths they found already dead.

Discovery and Excavation

The Broken Mammoth site sits on a high bank overlooking the Tanana River. Charles E. Holmes discovered the site in the summer of 1989. He was doing an archaeological survey, which is like a search for old human activity. Holmes named the site "Broken Mammoth" because he found a piece of broken mammoth bone on the hillside. He and David Yesner started digging at the site in 1990, and excavations are still happening today.

Tools and Artifacts

According to Charles E. Holmes, the Beringian Period was the oldest time in the Tanana River Valley. This was before 13,000 years ago, when a land bridge connected Alaska and Siberia.

The Beringian Period is split into two parts: an older part (before 13,500 years ago) and a newer part called the Chindadn complex (between 13,500 and 13,000 years ago).

The stone tools from before 13,500 years ago include tools sharpened on both sides, blades, and tiny blades called microblades. Only three sites in the Tanana River Valley have tools from this very old time: Swan Point, Mead site, and Broken Mammoth. The Broken Mammoth site is considered part of the Nenana complex, which describes how tools were made and used.

The Chindadn complex tools (from 13,500 to 13,000 years ago) are small, triangular, or teardrop-shaped points. They were often made from thin flakes and not always perfectly shaped. There isn't much evidence of the Chindadn complex at Broken Mammoth. Only a few flakes and bones from this time have been found, and no microblades yet.

Changing Tools Over Time

After the Beringian Period came the Transitional Period, from 13,000 to 9,500 years ago. Two types of Chindadn points are linked to this time: one is triangular, and the other has a curved-in base.

Points found at Broken Mammoth that are like these date to about 12,100 years ago. Charcoal from hearths at the site has been dated to about 10,290 years ago and 12,270 years ago.

At other sites in the Tanana River Valley, like Swan Point and Healey Lake, scientists found microblades along with these points. But strangely, no microblades from this time have been found at Broken Mammoth. It's still a mystery why this type of tool is missing here.

Ancient Fireplaces

Many hearths (fireplaces) have been found at Broken Mammoth. The radiocarbon dating of the charcoal from these hearths gives strong proof of how old the site is. One shallow pit hearth was found, dating to about 4,524 years ago. It was found with several flakes and obsidian microblades. This shows that people lived near the edge of the bluff at the site. Another hearth, about 7,600 years old, had hearthstones. This suggests people stayed there for a longer time.

Two more hearths (and possibly a third) have been found, dating to 9,690 years ago, 10,270 years ago, and 10,790 years ago. These also had hearthstones, stone tools, and animal bones around them. This means the people stayed at this site for a while, long enough to use the fireplaces many times.

Compared to other sites in the Tanana River Valley, like Swan Point, Mead, and Healey Lake, not many artifacts and stone tools have been found at Broken Mammoth. However, the artifacts that have been found give us important clues about the history of people living in the Tanana River Valley.

What We Found in Different Layers

Scientists dig in layers, called "cultural zones," to understand different time periods.

In Cultural Zone 1, artifacts found include sharpened flakes, scrapers (tools for cleaning hides), points, and tiny blades. These tools were made from different kinds of rock like rhyolite, chalcedony, chert, basalt, and obsidian. The obsidian is very interesting because it came from places far away, like Batza Tena in northwest Alaska and the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve area in eastern Alaska. This suggests that people traded materials or traveled long distances. It also hints that even older sites might exist where these raw materials were first found. Until those sites are discovered, Broken Mammoth helps us understand the earliest known human presence in this area, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago. A nearly complete spear point was also found here.

Cultural Zone 2 has only a few flakes, fire-broken rocks, and hearthstones. But it's possible that more microblades could be found closer to the bluff's edge.

In Cultural Zone 3, many tiny flakes, sharpened flakes, larger broken tools, points, hammers made of quartz, and anvils were found. A small bone needle with an eye (for thread) was found near a hearth that dates to about 10,300 years ago. This bone needle suggests that the people used this site to process animal skins, perhaps to make clothing.

Cultural Zone 4

In Cultural Zone 4, scientists found a lot of leftover pieces from making tools. These pieces were made of rhyolite, basalt, obsidian, chert, and quartzite. This shows that the people living at the site were making or fixing their tools there.

Most of the tools found in this zone are incomplete. They include sharpened flakes, scrapers, and a large quartz tool that could be used for chopping, scraping, or flattening. Several pieces of ivory tusk were also found with scratches on them. These scratches might have been made by stone tools. One tusk piece even had a tiny stone chip stuck in a scratch, which supports this idea. A hidden collection of ivory artifacts was also found, including two points and a possible handle. One piece of ivory from this collection was dated to about 15,800 years ago. This very old ivory suggests that the people found it from a much older mammoth kill site, rather than hunting and processing the mammoth themselves.

Obsidian Clues

The obsidian used at this site came from a place called Wiki Peak. Some of it has been dated as early as 13,400 years ago.

This same type of obsidian was also found at the Walker Road, Alaska site and the Moose Creek, Alaska site in the same area. All these sites date to before 13,000 years ago.

Why Broken Mammoth is Important

The discovery of the Broken Mammoth site proves that people lived in central Alaska before 11,000 years ago. There is even evidence that humans might have been in parts of central Alaska before 13,500 years ago, and possibly even earlier! The artifacts found at Broken Mammoth, especially the obsidian tools, suggest that people were in northwest and eastern Alaska even earlier.

The fact that no microblades were found in the very old layers at Broken Mammoth suggests that the people living there might have been around before microblade technology was common. However, Charles Holmes argues that just because they weren't found doesn't mean the technology didn't exist somewhere else at that time. Other similar sites do show microblade technology.

The Broken Mammoth site has incredibly well-preserved animal remains. This gives archaeologists a great look into how early people in North America hunted and what they ate.

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