Gomphotheres, Mastodons, and Mammoths: The Fauna from El Fin del Mundo, Sonora

Author(s): Kayla Worthey; Joaquín Arroyo Cabrales

Year: 2017

Summary

El Fin del Mundo, Sonora is the only known site where Clovis artifacts have been found in association with the remains of gomphotheres (Cuvieronius sp.), dated to 11,550 ± 60 rcyBP. Analysis of the faunal remains from the site confirms the presence of two juvenile/sub-adult gomphotheres (Cuvieronius sp.) found in close association with Clovis artifacts. A second bone bed located beneath the cultural layer, dated to ≤12,180 ±40 rcyBP, contains the remains of gomphothere, mastodon, mammoth, horse, and tapir. The co-occurrence of gomphothere, mastodon and mammoth in the same bone bed is virtually unknown at any paleontological site other than El Fin del Mundo. Here, the implications of this association of "disharmonious" taxa are discussed in the context of terminal Pleistocene environmental change.

Cite this Record

Gomphotheres, Mastodons, and Mammoths: The Fauna from El Fin del Mundo, Sonora. Kayla Worthey, Joaquín Arroyo Cabrales. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 430630)

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Keywords

General
Clovis Megafauna Mexico

Geographic Keywords
North America - Southwest

Spatial Coverage

min long: -115.532; min lat: 30.676 ; max long: -102.349; max lat: 42.033 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17452