TARRAGONA, SPAIN—Live Science reports that cut marks have been detected on the bones of gomphotheres recovered from the basin of central Chile's ancient Lake Tagua Tagua by researchers from the Catalan Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA). The archaeologists also uncovered stone tools at the site, indicating that people butchered the now-extinct tusked mammals between 12,000 and 13,000 years ago. The bones of extinct horses and deer species, also bearing cut marks and signs of burning, have been discovered in the Lake Tagua Tagua basin during previous excavations. Scientists will continue to analyze the bones and sediment samples from the lake basin to study how some of the first people to reach the Southern Cone of South America lived. To read about gomphothere bones found at a site in Sonora, go to "Around the World: Mexico."
