Uncovering Ancient Ties: Woolly Mammoth’s Path Linked to Alaska’s First Hunters

Scientists have linked the movements of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth with early human settlements in Alaska. Analysis of the mammoth’s tusk revealed a journey that overlapped with human hunting areas, indicating a close relationship between these early settlers and mammoths.

Researchers have linked the travels of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth with the oldest known human settlements in Alaska, providing clues about the relationship between the iconic species and some of the earliest people to travel across the Bering Land Bridge.

Tracing a Mammoth’s Journey
Scientists made those connections by using isotope analysis to study the life of a female mammoth, named Élmayųujey’eh, by the Healy Lake Village Council. A tusk from Elma was discovered at the Swan Point archaeological site in Interior Alaska. Samples from the tusk revealed details about Elma and the roughly 1,000-kilometer journey she took through Alaska and northwestern Canada during her lifetime.