It is possible that the animal was already injured, weakened, or trapped when it was attacked, and that the rib injury was part of a final killing effort.

It is also possible that the mastodon was struck, wounded, and then escaped, eventually dying from other causes — disease, another injury, old age — with the broken bone tip still embedded in its rib.

The evidence documents the attack.

It does not document the kill.

That distinction is important for accuracy, and the researchers who published the Manis work were careful to maintain it.

The embedded projectile tip is direct evidence of a human-directed weapon striking a mastodon.