A Second Opening: The Weapon, Not Just The Evidence

The 2011 publication established the Manis site as a serious and well-supported case for pre-Clovis mastodon hunting.

It presented strong evidence: modern AMS radiocarbon dates, high-resolution CT imaging, protein analysis confirming mastodon bone material in an intrusive position inside the rib.

The paper made a measured but clear argument that the most parsimonious explanation for all of this evidence was a bone weapon that had penetrated the mastodon’s rib during a hunting encounter.

But the paper left open a question that mattered both scientifically and for the broader understanding of pre-Clovis technology: what did the weapon actually look like?