Human (Clovis)–gomphothere (Cuvieronius sp.) association ∼13,390 calibrated yBP in Sonora, Mexico

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Sanchez, Guadalupe, Holliday, Vance T., Gaines, Edmund P., Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín, Martínez-Tagüeña, Natalia, Kowler, Andrew, Lange, Todd, Hodgins, Gregory W. L., Mentzer, Susan M., Sanchez-Morales, Ismael
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2014
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4121807; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25024193; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1404546111

Archaeological evidence from Sonora, Mexico, indicates that the earliest widespread and recognizable group of hunter-gatherers (“Clovis”) were in place ∼13,390 y ago in southwestern North America. This is the earliest well-documented population on the continent and suggests that the unique Clovis artifact style originated in the southwest or south central part of the continent, well south of the Arctic gateways into the continent. These hunters targeted gomphotheres, an elephant common in south and central North America, but unknown in association with humans or at this late age in North America.