How Early Americans' Diet May Have Contributed to the Extinction of Mammoths

A recent study of a 12,800-year-old toddler's remains in Montana has shed new light on early American diets and the role humans may have played in the extinction of mammoths. The research focused on isotopic analysis of the Anzick child’s skull, revealing that over 40% of the child’s diet came from mammoths, with other large mammals like elk and bison also contributing significantly.

This discovery challenges the long-standing debate over the cause of North America's megafaunal extinction. While many scientists have pointed to climate change, the isotopic evidence strengthens the argument that early human hunting practices contributed to the extinction of these massive creatures. 

For anthropologists, this study offers important details into the relationship between early humans and their environment. It shows that early Americans were capable of hunting massive animals, something that scientists once didn’t believe was possible. These new insights suggest that large creatures were a vital part of early American’s diet and survival, revealing how these early people hunted and interacted with the environment to thrive.

This research pushes us to rethink our understanding of early human survival and their influence on the natural world, leading us to further see how humanity may have had a significant role in changing the Western Hemisphere’s ecological history.