[blam]

I have always contended that there was never a human population large enough to hunt these animals to extinction. It is also my contention that humans have been in the Americas for at least 200,000 years.

I wouldn't rule out a human virus that crossed species though.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

My understanding was NOT that they went out and hunted down these animals one-by-one, but that they did other things that caused mass kill offs, such as starting massive forest fires and hunting a few animals that ran out of the flames.

Burning down forests for a few bites of beef sounds rather silly, though as well.

[EggsAckley]

Interesting article.

[CaptainJustice]

Finally, the closure I've been needing. ;)

[Burkeman1]

Pretty flimsy evidence to dismiss the predation theory. I would say it has more to do with PC about primitive peoples being at "harmony with nature" and would never "over hunt". There is much evidence to show ancient humans killed far more than they needed. Climte change is ridiculous since many of these mega fauna survived multiple ice ages and ice age withdrawals. There is mucho evidence to show as modern humans spread throughout the planet- soon after mega fauna disappeared. They were easy kills as they had no natural fear of humans as predators.

[RudeJude]

Interesting article, thanks.
I have always been fascinated by this; if the soil around our place wasn't all sandy loam I'd be out digging for bones!

[Spunky]

Kennewick Man had a Clovis Spear Head inbedded in him.

Here is the latest regarding the Kennewick Man battle.

Feb. 21, 2003
Court blocks study of bones pending appeal
By The Associated Press

PORTLAND - Eight anthropologists who want to study an ancient skeleton must wait until a federal court has heard an appeal of the case by four Northwest tribes that consider the bones sacred.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision, made last week, prevents any study of the 9,300-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man, which scientists have sought to examine since 1996.

With the 9th circuit involved the scientist will never have a chance. For the rest of the article click link below.
Latest on Kennewick Man

[Notforprophet]

Mmmmmm... grilled ground sloth.

[latrans]

So they werent ecologists, they sure made cool spear points, wish I could find one.

[merak]

It's not just a question of killing things; it's also a question of mobility. Ancient man, particularly in the Americas in which there's no evidence that he ever rode horses or any other animal, simply didn't get around well enough to kill off entire species of animals over whole countries.

[blam]

Jump in here.

[farmfriend]

Climate change, not humans, was the culprit.

I thought humans caused climate change. Oh, sorry. I forgot that it is only capitalist humans that cause climate change

[Bob J]

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[arthurus]

I would not have imagind=ed that it is we who killed off the megafauna by our unconscionable release of freon and car exhaust. It just shows we have to work even harder to reverse Global Warming before it gets the whales and dinosaurs.

[arthurus]

I would not have imagined that it is we who killed off the megafauna by our unconscionable release of freon and car exhaust. It just shows we have to work even harder to reverse Global Warming before it gets the whales and dinosaurs.

[Bernard Marx]

I've been intrigued by this mystery for a long time and have thought about it a lot. I'm not persuaded that there's any evidence at all yet for anything, human or otherwise, causing the demise of the megafauna.

This was a worldwide event. The surprising thing was that it did not seem to affect animals weighing approximately 200 pounds and under. Why just the big creatures and not the little ones?

I've done my share of hunting and when I put myself in the place of a hunter armed only with a stone-tipped spear, I reach a certain conclusion. When I need to put meat on the table I'm going after small, less dangerous creatures than mastadon. If I need to bag a bunch of meat, slow-moving ground sloth look out!

Yet in Siberia and in Monte Verde, Chile, entire villages were constructed of mastadon bones and tusks. Why? My theory is that they were just lying there for the taking, the result of some disease or calamity, and made fine construction materials and tools. It's certainly true there's evidence that humans hunted mastadons. But given access to smaller prey it has never made sense to me that humans alone caused these massive extinctions.

[ladyinred]

Yikes, I am a Clovis person. So glad to feel vindicated! :-)

[Torie]

It all depends on the effort success ratio the folks had in killing the beasts. If they didn't have the tools to do it efficiently, then the thesis holds.

[JudyB1938]

I don't think people did it either. On the other hand, I have never been able to get a clear picture in my mind how a meteor or something could be so selective in its kill. Consequently, your theory of a cross-species virus targeting specific animal groups makes sense.

[SunkenCiv]

Busy night, eh?

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

update:

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