UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA—Were early human hunters responsible for the tens of thousands of bones collected at some 30 spots known as mammoth cemeteries? Evidence of huts made of mammoth bones have been found at some of the locations, and some of the bones bear cut and burn marks. Pat Shipman of Pennsylvania State University, University Park, thinks that people may have ambushed the large animals at these sites, perhaps with the help of dogs. The dogs could have corralled the mammoths and they may have also protected the meat after the kill. “All of that mammoth meat would have brought predators from miles around. In return, the humans may have provided these canines with food and protection. And slowly, a closer relationship may have begun to form,” she told Science Now. Skulls with both wolf- and doglike features have been found among the mammoth bones at several of these cemetery sites, and some of the bones have healed fractures, a possible sign of human care, but more evidence is needed to support Shipman’s hypothesis.
