Early Man and his Influence on and Association with Late Pleistocene Fauna in Middle America

Dale R. Croes

doi:10.7273/000006414

Early man arrived in Middle America from the north sometime within the Pleistocene. Almost all evidence of his presence indicates an arrival no earlier than 40,000 yrs. B.P. and probably later than 35, 000 B.P. From about 11,500 B.P. to 9,000 B.P. there are some definite direct associations between man and the late Pleistocene animals. These animals were mainly large terrestrial herbivores hunted by man until their extinction. This period occurred at the end of the Pleistocene ice age. The discovery of human artifacts directly associated with large Pleistocene herbivores in kill-sites illustrates man's utilization of these animals in his diet. The Purpose of this paper is not to stipulate the belief that early man was primarily a big-game-hunter, since there are some indications that he was not, but most evidence of early man in Middle .America was indicated by kill-sites where large Pleistocene animals were slaughtered. The large Pleistocene animals generally associated with man both stratigraphically and directly (through artifact association) are mammoths , mastodons, camels, horses, and bison. One thing I think should be pointed out now is that all these animals, though extinct in many parts of the world, do have directly related ancestors still surviving in the present world. The present day related late Pleistocene-type animals are elephants, modem horses, modern camels (in both the New and Old World), and cattle (even buffalo in the New World). For this reason they really have not expired from existence,World). For this reason they really have not expired from existence, but have, for some unanswered reason, become extinct in certain areas while some close relatives have generally survived. It is also possible importance that these related Pleistocene type animals, that have survived, have almost all become closely associated, if not completely controlled by man through different degrees of domestication. The simple fact that certain breeds have been able to live with man may very well be the reason for their survival.

Early Man and his Influence on and Association with Late Pleistocene Fauna in Middle America

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