A ground-breaking study of an ancient childʼs bones from Montana shows how Ice-Age mothers got their protein. The remains (found back in 1968) tell an amazing food-story about life almost 13 thousand years ago
The research team looked at special chemical marks in an 18-month-olds bones that came from his nursing mothers diet. The results show a mega-sized appetite: this Ice-Age mom ate mostly big animals with mammoth meat making up 40% of her meals; other food came from elk bison and even ancient camels
The mother and baby belonged to the Clovis people who were super-skilled hunters. They used big stone-tipped spears and special cutting tools to take down huge prey. These early Americans didnt waste time picking berries or chasing rabbits – they went straight for the biggest animals around
- Mammoths: main food source
- Elk and bison: regular meals
- Ancient camels: part of diet
- Horses: occasional prey
Scientists used something called stable-isotope analysis to figure this out. “The chemical signs in the babys bones matched what we see in big cat hunters of that time“ says Mat Wooller who helped with the study. The mothers hunting style was just like an ancient scimitar-toothed cat – a real mega-predator
This finding shows how Clovis hunters helped push big Ice-Age animals toward extinction. These giant beasts never saw humans before and didnt know how to deal with such smart hunters. Mixed with the warming climate back then‚ it was too much for many species to handle