All these questions are discussed at length in Episode 931 of the MeatEater Podcast, which featured Metin Eren, Ph.D., of Kent State University’s Department of Anthropology, and David Meltzer, Ph.D., of Southern Methodist University. The episode, titled “Eating Rotten Mammoths,” was filmed in Bozeman, Montana, and released on Sept.14.
Eren and Meltzer cover a wide range of archaeological topics during the episode, but they spend most of their time with host Steven Rinella on one big question: Did early modern humans hunt, scavenge or do both? Eren asked the same thing in his latest paper, “Did Clovis foragers hunt megafauna, scavenge their carrion, or both — And can we tell the difference?” Meltzer and several other researchers collaborated on the study. Both the article and podcast episode revolve around Eren’s extensive research on Clovis points and other stone tools, prehistoric North American weapons most likely used by Homo sapiens about 13,000 years ago.
The big takeaway? Much of what archaeologists thought they knew about ancient hunting is not scientifically supported. Experiments showed that the impact marks on blades found beside mammoth carcasses could come from killing a live animal or from butchering one that was already dead. In other words, the points can't tell us how early humans got their meat because a point used to kill a large animal looks the same as one used to scavenge a carcass.
“What our paper shows is that archaeologists are colorblind to hunting versus scavenging and the interpretation of those two things in the sites we dig up,” Eren said. “We can’t tell the difference.”
These findings call into question our understanding of early modern humans and force us to once again reconsider what we think we know about the human record. Piecing together what prehistoric life might have looked like is an incredibly difficult task that requires constant amendments, but Eren’s work has added vital details to the ever-shifting picture of human life.
Watch the full "Eating Rotten Mammoths” (Episode 931) of the MeatEater Podcast:
