THE ANGUS MAMMOTH CONTROVERSY: RESOLVED?

The discovery of the Angus Mammoth in south-central Nebraska in 1931 was an important event in the history of North America archaeology because Figgins (1931) interpreted this find to be the first well-documented association of a fluted artifact with a mammoth in North America. However, a controversy soon emerged based on a geological interpretation of the deposits that made them much too old for a mammoth-human association to be valid. The major uncertainty is actually related to the problem of estimating the age of the mammoth bones, since they do not contain the necessary collagen for radiocarbon dating. The controversy remained during the eighty years that followed the site discovery, and the Angus Mammoth Site (25NO101) was relegated to a little-known footnote in American archaeology. However, recent luminescence dating results on sediment the bones were buried in clearly indicate that the remains are significantly older than the Holocene, at around 56,200-75,300 years old. We have determined that the matrix above the mammoth is more than 45,000 years too old for the mammoth/fluted point association to be valid. Research over the last thirty years, including archival research, oral interviews, test excavations, geomorphic studies and several attempts to acquire OSL dates on the site has finally resolved the controversy...we think. Our presentation will show the results of stratigraphic correlation and intense archival research, the luminescence ages, and our best guess on how the fluted point ended up next to the mammoth.