Papers by McKenna Litynski
Aenocyon dirus played a crucial role as a predator in late Quaternary megafaunal communities thro... more Aenocyon dirus played a crucial role as a predator in late Quaternary megafaunal communities throughout southern North America. This article presents two new occurrences of the species from southwest Iowa on the eastern Great Plains, updates the Peccary Cave record in the southern Ozark Highlands, and amends the fossil record of the species. In southern North America, there are 166 occurrences of A. dirus, spanning Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2-19, with at least two-thirds (n = 112) of the occurrences dating to MIS 2-3 (11,600-57,000 cal B.P.). A. dirus fossils are found across this region, with notable concentrations in California, Florida, the Ozark Highlands, and broadly across the southern Great Plains. Consideration of Canis specimens from the lead region (covering contiguous parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa) previously identified as Canis mississippiensis (and sometimes synonymized with A. dirus or C. lupus) reveals they are actually C. lupus. The terminal extinction of A. dirus occurred sometime after 12,800 cal B.P. The Iowa finds, consisting of a radius and a partial cranium, are the first records for the state. Zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry confirms these records, as well as the Peccary Cave record, are A. dirus, as opposed to C. lupus. The Iowa specimens are directly dated to 29,040-28,410 cal B.P. and 14,325-14,075 cal B.P., while Peccary Cave is dated to 25,350-21,405 cal B.P. These results place A. dirus in the interior of southern North America before, during, and after the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500-19,000 cal B.P.). Stable nitrogen isotope (δ 15 N) values of bone collagen from the younger of the two Iowa records suggest this individual did not regularly compete for prey with Smilodon fatalis during the Bølling-Allerød Chronozone (14,640-12,850 cal B.P.). To the south, at Peccary Cave, considerations of prey size, prey abundance, and isotopic data strongly suggest Platygonus compressus was the focal prey species.
SOMETHING FISHY: FISH REMAINS AT THE KLEIN SITE (XBD-362) QUARTZ LAKE, ALASKA.
Alaska Journal of Anthropology, 2024
Today, fish are an important part of Alaska subsistence, valued by communities across the region.... more Today, fish are an important part of Alaska subsistence, valued by communities across the region. Coastal fishing practices have long been a focus of both contemporary and past research, but the historic relationship between people and fish in the Interior is less clear. Recent archaeological work has begun to establish the long history of fishing in central Alaska and led to a greater understanding of the role of fish. How central Alaskans selected and processed fish in more recent periods, such as the late Holocene, remains uncertain due in part to collection, preservation, and research bias. This study of late Holocene fish remains from the Klein Site on Quartz Lake adds to our knowledge of fishing during this period. It demonstrates the importance of a variety of non-anadromous fish species and indicates that these fish may have been harvested using mass capture technology such as nets or weirs. Changes in excavation protocol and unique investigations of lakeside archaeological sites expand our understanding of fishing throughout the past. The ecological data embedded in these archaeological sites can also aid researchers in reconstructing past environments so that we may better understand how high-latitude fisheries are changing in the present.
We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needl... more We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles. Archaeologists have used the tailored, fur-fringed garments of high latitude foragers as modern analogs for the clothes of Paleolithic foragers, arguing that the appearance of bone needles and fur bearer remains in archaeological sites c. 40,000 BP is indirect evidence for the advent of tailored garments at this time. These garments partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas ca. 14,500 BP. Despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal, archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation. We use Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning to establish that bone needles at the ca. 12,900 BP La Prele site (Wyoming, USA) were produced from the bones of canids, felids, and hares. We propose that these bones were used by the Early Paleoindian foragers at La Prele because they were scaled correctly for bone needle production and readily available within the campsite, having remained affixed to pelts sewn into complex garments. Combined with a review of comparable evidence from other North American Paleoindian sites, our results suggest that North American Early Paleoindians had direct access to furbearing predators, likely from trapping, and represent some of the most detailed evidence yet discovered for Paleoindian garments.
Journal of Archaeological Science
At Bluefish Caves in the Yukon Territory of Canada, researchers argue that 24,000-year-old faunal... more At Bluefish Caves in the Yukon Territory of Canada, researchers argue that 24,000-year-old faunal remains bear anthropogenic cutmarks, and provide evidence of a pre-Last Glacial Maximum (23-18 ka) human occupation of North America's arctic. However, non-anthropogenic agents can also leave marks on bones that might resemble bone surface modifications (BSMs) produced by stone tools. Here we test the hypothesis that rockfall traces can mimic stone tool cutmarks by experimentally replicating the spalling limestone shelter at Bluefish Caves, dropping variably sized limestone blocks (12-2322 g) from 3.5 m onto Bovidae remains. These same bones were subsequently sliced with stone tools to produce cutmarks for comparison. The resulting marks were analyzed with a Dino-Lite microscope and a Sensofar S Neox 3-D optical profilometer to allow quantitative comparisons of their morphologies. Results show that cutmarks can be distinguished from rockfall damage, and do not support the hypothesis that the BSM previously identified as cutmarks at Bluefish Caves are instead a product of rockfall.
Building a Foundation to Unify the Language of Climate Change in Historical Archaeology
Historical Archaeology
Scientific reports, Feb 5, 2024
A tubular bone bead dating to ~ 12,940 BP was recovered from a hearth-centered activity area at t... more A tubular bone bead dating to ~ 12,940 BP was recovered from a hearth-centered activity area at the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, Wyoming, USA. This is the oldest known bead from the Western Hemisphere. To determine the taxonomic origin of the bead, we extracted collagen for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS). We also used micro-CT scanning for morphological analysis to determine likely skeletal elements used for its production. We conclude that the bead was made from a metapodial or proximal phalanx of a hare (Lepus sp.). This find represents the first secure evidence for the use of hares during the Clovis period. While the use of hare bone for the manufacture of beads was a common practice in western North America during the Holocene, its origins can now be traced back to at least the terminal Pleistocene.
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Papers by McKenna Litynski