Late Pleistocene mammoth remains from Coastal Maine, USA
Remains identified as those of a woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) dated at 12,200 ± 55 14 C yr B.P. were recovered while excavating in a complex sequence of glaciomarine sediments in Scarborough, Maine, USA. The mammoth was found in the top meter of a fossiliferous unit of mud and sand lamin...
| Published in: | Quaternary Research |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2004
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2004.02.006 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589404000377?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589404000377?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400012989 |
| Summary: | Remains identified as those of a woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) dated at 12,200 ± 55 14 C yr B.P. were recovered while excavating in a complex sequence of glaciomarine sediments in Scarborough, Maine, USA. The mammoth was found in the top meter of a fossiliferous unit of mud and sand laminites. These sediments were deposited during a marine regressive phase following the transgression that accompanied northward retreat of the margin of the Laurentide ice sheet. A Portlandia arctica valve from the underlying transgressive unit provides a minimum age of 14,820 ± 105 14 C yr B.P. for local deglaciation. The mammoth, an adult female, died in midwinter with no evidence of human involvement. Tusk growth rates and oxygen-isotope variation over the last few years of life record low seasonality. The mammoth was transported to the site as a partial carcass by the late-glacial proto-Saco River. It sank in a near-shore setting, was subjected to additional disarticulation and scattering of elements, and was finally buried in sediments reworked by the shallowing sea. |
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