14000 Years in the Ozarks - Arrowhead Collecting On The Web

ACOTW
TM
Arrowhead Collecting On The Web
The Lehner Mammoth Kill Site In Arizona ... Excavated In 1955-
1956 ... Further Proved The Antiquity Of The Clovis Culture.
The Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site is
a site in southern Arizona that is
significant for its association with
evidence that mammoths were
killed here by Paleo-Indians 9000
years BCE.
In 1952, Ed Lehner discovered
extinct mammoth bone fragments
on his ranch, at the locality now
known as the Lehner Mammoth-
Kill Site. He notified the Arizona
State Museum, and a summer of
heavy rains in 1955 exposed more
bones. Excavations took place in
1955-56, and again in 1974-75. In
the first season, two Clovis projectile
points were found among
the ribs of a young mammoth.
Artifacts found during these
excavations included thirteen
fluted Clovis culture projectile
points, butchering tools, chipped
stone debris and fire hearth
features.
Bones of a variety of game—
twelve immature mammoths, one
horse, one tapir, several bison, one
camel, one bear, several rabbits,
and a garter snake—were
excavated at the Lehner site.
The Lehner Mammoth kill and
camp site exhibited a number of
firsts: It was the first site
associated with the Clovis culture
to have definable fire hearths.
These hearths provided the first
radiocarbon dates for the culture
(9,000 B.C.).
This site was also the first to have
butchering tools in direct association
with animal remains, and
the first Clovis association with
small animals, camel, and tapir.
In addition to the obvious artifact
remains, an inter-disciplinary
group of scientists including
archaeologists, botanists,
geochronologists, geologists,
paleontologists, palynologists, and
zoologists have studied and
Excavations at the Lehner site, 1955,with the bone bed well exposed (Arizona State University).
Clovis point “in situ” near a bison mandible and mammoth bone at the Lehner site, 1955
interpreted a wide range of data
from the site that greatly adds to
our understanding of the past.
The Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site
was declared a National Historic
Landmark in 1967.
In 1988, Mr. and Mrs. Lehner
donated the site to the Bureau of
Land Management for the benefit
and education of the public.
References
“National Register Information
System”. National Register of
Historic Places. National Park
Service. 2007-01-23. http://
www.nr.nps.gov/.
Volume II, Number 5 10
May 2010