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Judi Lynn

(161,057 posts)
Fri May 24, 2024, 12:37 AM May 24

Ancient humans regularly hunted now-extinct elephants at lake in Chile, study says

BY BRENDAN RASCIUS MAY 23, 2024 5:28 PM

Ancient humans hunted a now-extinct species of elephant 12,000 years ago in Chile, according to a new study. Photo from PLOS One

Thousands of years ago, early humans were hunting massive animals in modern-day Chile, archaeologists recently discovered. The finding was made during an archaeological excavation of Tagua Tagua Lake, a dried up lake bed that lies in the mountains of central Chile, according to a study published May 22 in the journal PLOS One.

The site contained fossilized remains of gomphotheres, a type of elephant that lived throughout much of the world up until the early Holocene period. UNCOVER MORE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week.

Evidence of wear on the bones, as well as the presence of stone tools, indicates hunter-gatherers butchered and ate the large mammals near the lake.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article288690815.html#storylink=cpy

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Ancient humans regularly hunted now-extinct elephants at lake in Chile, study says (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 24 OP
Can't argue with science but oasis May 24 #1
Gomphotheres were Inkey May 24 #2

oasis

(50,032 posts)
1. Can't argue with science but
Fri May 24, 2024, 12:56 AM
May 24

seems like there would have been plenty creatures more easily caught. 🤔

Inkey

(208 posts)
2. Gomphotheres were
Fri May 24, 2024, 03:44 AM
May 24

Possibly evolutionary predecessors of elephants and mammoths. They were a global roaming vegetarian beast.
I could believe they would have been on the menu for a tribe of people in the past.

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