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In south-central Nebraska is a pre-Clovis archaeological site that provides significant evidence for early human activity in north America. The site has yielded stone tools and bone fragments associated with extinct Pleistocene megafauna, particularly mammoths. The site is located in an ancient river terrace and dates to approximately 18,000 years ago. Making it one of the sites that supports the possibility of a human presence in North America. During the Last Glacial Maximum (around 20,000 years ago).

Artifacts include what appear to be stone tools and lithic fragments. They show signs of intentional modification by humans, along with animal bones with potential cut marks
These marks suggest that humans may have been using tools to process remains, implying hunting or scavenging activities. The association of these artifacts with extinct megafauna bones is fascinating. It suggests human activity in this part of North America at a time previously believed to be inhospitable due to the harsh ice age conditions.

The fossil evidence they are looking at are bone flakes, and the ways in which some bones were fractured. A brand of scientific inquiry called taphonomy is providing the clues
Taphonomy is the multidisciplinary study of cultural and natural processes that may be responsible for the arrangement of objects found at an archaeological site.

The La Sena mammoth skeleton had several bone flakes associated with it. These bone flakes were identical to the long, thin slivers of flint. That have been documented as byproducts that flake off, when humans chip stones to make sharp tools
These early humans may have used stone tools to butcher mammoths. In addition, some of the thick mammoth bones were split apart in ways that could only have happened with a heavy blow. For nutrition, humans used large cobblestones to retrieve bone marrow in the middle. And, by splitting the large mammoth bones open.

But not everyone accepts the evidence presented at the La Sena site. Critics say that the bone breaking evidence is not conclusive. And they are asked, “Why haven’t archaeologists found other evidence of human life at the La Sena site, like fire hearths, stone tools or stone debris?”

If scientists are right, human beings were living and hunting here much earlier than previously thought. 5 to 6 thousand years is a significant difference. However, in the geologic time scale, it is not.

The findings at La Sena contribute to an increasing body of evidence for pre-Clovis human activity . Like other pre-Clovis sites, La Sena is debated within the archaeological community. Researchers carefully analyze evidence for dating accuracy and consider whether bones marks and stones were created by humans. Nevertheless, the site, along with others like Lovewell in Kansas. Add to the discipline that humans probably entered the continent well before the traditional Clovis migration timeline of around 13,500 years ago.

Bibliography:

Nebraska Public Media. (n.d.). First Human Residents. https://www.nebraskastudies.org/en/pre-1500/first-human-residents/

Steeves, P. (202 C.E., October). La Sena. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2737