Ice Age Diet: Mammoth Meat Was a Staple for Early Americans

A study led by researchers from McMaster University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks provides direct evidence that Clovis people, early inhabitants of North America, primarily consumed large animals like mammoths. Isotopic analysis of a Clovis infant's remains revealed that 40% of the diet came from mammoths, supporting the theory that these prehistoric humans were big-game hunters. This dietary preference may have contributed to the rapid spread of Clovis people across the continent and possibly played a role in the extinction of large mammals at the end of the last Ice Age.