Ruth Gruhn

An El Jobo Mastodon Kill at Taima-taima, Venezuela

Excavation at Taima-taima in 1976 recovered artifacts of the El Jobo complex in direct association with the butchered remains of a juvenile mastodon. Radiocarbon dates on associated wood twigs indicate a minimum age of 13,000 years before the present for the mastodon kill, a dating significantly older than that of the Clovis complex in North America. The El Jobo complex must have evolved independently in northern South America.

A contribution to Pleistocene chronology in southeast Essex, England

Abstract Parallel to the Essex coast north of the mouth of the Thames, a series of gravel spreads ranging in altitude from near sea level westward to more than 200 ft O.D. (mean sea level) proved to be the remnants of an abandoned Thames/Medway terrace system, rather than a series of “raised” beaches, as their location had suggested. The seaward side of the ancient river valley has subsequently been “captured” by subsidence. Evidence is given for five terraces, with surface levels between 5 and 75 ft O.D. Because of subsidence of the Essex coast, the terrace levels are not easily correlatable with either the Thames or Medway terrace levels. Temporal placement is attempted on the basis of one site in the 25 ft Barling terrace, which yielded a Middle Acheulian archaeological assemblage associated with a cool temperate fauna including an early form of mammoth. An ice wedge cast in the Barling terrace was filled with floodloam which weathered to a parabraunerde soil during an interglacial climate warmer than now. For these reasons man is thought to have lived on the floodplain of the Barling terrace either at the onset of the Wolstonian (Riss) glacial or during an interstadial of that stage. The question of possible linkages between Swanscombe and Clacton terraces is discussed.

A Review of Lynch's Descriptions of South American Pleistocene Sites

The description of major South American Pleistocene sites by Lynch (1990) contains significant errors and omissions. The artifact assemblage at the Colombian site of Tibit6, dated at 11,740 ? 140 B.P., is much larger than indicated by Lynch and well represents the Abriense industry, which features small unifacially retouched flake tools and core tools, with no stone projectile points. Lynch did not describe the 1976 stratigraphic profile at the Venezuelan site of TaimaTaima, and he failed to refer to the evidence for butchering of the juvenile mastodon with which an El Jobo projectile point fragment and a utilized flake were associated directly. The descriptions of Brazilian sites alsofeature serious mistakes. For the site ofAlice Bo&r, Lynch overlooked a thick sterile stratigraphic unit (Bed IV) that intervenes between Bed III, with its thermoluminescence dates as early as 10,970 ? 1020 B.P. and radiocarbon dates as early as 14,200 ? 1150 B.P., and the artifact-bearing surface of Bed V. For Lapa Vermelha, Lynch failed to indicate that several artifacts were recovered from an older cemented cave fill that yielded radiocarbon dates of 22,410 B.P. and > 25,000 B.P. Lynchs description of the site of Toca do Boqueirdo da Pedra Furada does not correspond to eyewitness reports, and his description of the nearby Toca do Sitio do Meio was incomplete and confused. Finally, in his description of the stratigraphy of the Patagonian site of Los Toldos, Cueva 3 Lynch misquoted and misconstrued the original reports, which indicate clearly the stratigraphic priority and integrity of the Level 11 industry. For accurate descriptions of early South American archaeological sites, readers are urged to examine the original sources.

Reconstructing Prehistoric Population Movements: Seeking Congruence in Genetics, Linguistics, and Archaeology

Books discussed here focus upon the initial peopling of the Americas and the worldwide development of food production. They examine postulated historical instances in which genes, languages, and cultural elements appear to correlate, indicating major population movements in prehistory. Recognized experts in historical linguistics, archaeology, and molecular genetics review current methodology, available data, and models of global and regional population history. A more holistic approach and a greater understanding of human population dynamics are called for to improve our reconstruction of these past events.

Observations Concerning the Cerutti Mastodon Site

ABSTRACT My examination of the broken bone fragments in the Cerutti Mastodon Site collection indicates that the hypothesis of breakage by modern heavy machinery is invalid, as a thick precipitate of soil carbonate on the broken surfaces proves that the breakage was indeed very ancient. The site remains an anomaly in present modeling of the initial peopling of the Americas.