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Taphonomic analysis, associational integrity, and depositional history of the Fetterman Mammoth, eastern Wyoming, U.S.A.
Author(s) -
Byers David A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.10020
Subject(s) - mammoth , sedimentary depositional environment , taphonomy , assemblage (archaeology) , geology , sedimentation , paleontology , archaeology , geography , sediment , structural basin
Abstract The Fetterman Mammoth locality, eastern Wyoming, U.S.A., produced the remains of a single subadult mammoth and a small lithic assemblage. This paper employs a fine‐grained taphonomic approach to investigate the events responsible for the deposit's creation. No cultural modifications were noted on any of the specimens. Long axis orientations plotted against a reconstruction of the depositional surface suggest limited postdepositional movement of individual disarticulated elements. Weathering patterns based on in situ upside and downside positioning document two discrete episodes of sedimentation. These results suggest that the mammoth remains and the cultural assemblage may be separated by at least one depositional event and, as such, their association is considered equivocal. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.