georgia flatlander
Full Member
I was fortunate enough to be able to inspect and hold a 14,500 year old Mastodon vertebrae, part of the collection that was recently portrayed in National Geographic. It is an actual bone and not a fossil, preserved for years in the sediment on the bottom of a river in North Florida.
This was part of the Mastodon that was used to date the newly discovered Pre-Clovis population, and the debunking of the "ice-free corridor" theory of population in the Americas.
The discussion was very enlightening, though also dismaying. I was aware of the lower sea levels 14,500 years ago, but not to the extent that was discussed in our meeting. The Gulf of Mexico coast line in parts of Florida was nearly 150 miles offshore from where it is now; the amount of history lost forever is beyond imagination. The river where this Mastodon (and camelids, horses, etc.) was found didn't exist then either. It was a relatively small watering hole that was gradually engulfed by a growing river and layers of sediment over thousands of years.
It was a very humbling experience.
This is the Mastodon vertebrae
This is an in situ photograph of the bi-face knife that was found as having carved in parts of the animals found there:
This was part of the Mastodon that was used to date the newly discovered Pre-Clovis population, and the debunking of the "ice-free corridor" theory of population in the Americas.
The discussion was very enlightening, though also dismaying. I was aware of the lower sea levels 14,500 years ago, but not to the extent that was discussed in our meeting. The Gulf of Mexico coast line in parts of Florida was nearly 150 miles offshore from where it is now; the amount of history lost forever is beyond imagination. The river where this Mastodon (and camelids, horses, etc.) was found didn't exist then either. It was a relatively small watering hole that was gradually engulfed by a growing river and layers of sediment over thousands of years.
It was a very humbling experience.
This is the Mastodon vertebrae
This is an in situ photograph of the bi-face knife that was found as having carved in parts of the animals found there:
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