Definition: The Manis Mastodon site is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States. It was discovered in 1977 when a farmer unearthed two mastodon tusks from a pond in a marshy depression in the Sequim Prairie bog within a dense conifer forest.
Faunal and floral material recovered from the marshy pond layers included mammoth and bison bone, caribou antler, pollen, fruit and seeds. The oldest radiocarbon date was taken on a willow twig and returned at 12,100 +/- 310 years before the present. The broken tip of a pointed bone was discovered stuck in a mastodon rib suggesting big game hunters were present at the site at this early date. Not every archaeologist is agreed that this is a human occupation, however, because of its early date.
Pollen studies at Sequim Prairie were conducted in the 1980s. These indicated that at the time of the occupation, the region was undergoing an arid period, and the site would have been within an opening dominated by herbs and shrub that contained cactus. The region was colonized by coniferous forest between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago.
Faunal and floral material recovered from the marshy pond layers included mammoth and bison bone, caribou antler, pollen, fruit and seeds. The oldest radiocarbon date was taken on a willow twig and returned at 12,100 +/- 310 years before the present. The broken tip of a pointed bone was discovered stuck in a mastodon rib suggesting big game hunters were present at the site at this early date. Not every archaeologist is agreed that this is a human occupation, however, because of its early date.
Pollen studies at Sequim Prairie were conducted in the 1980s. These indicated that at the time of the occupation, the region was undergoing an arid period, and the site would have been within an opening dominated by herbs and shrub that contained cactus. The region was colonized by coniferous forest between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago.
Sources
Borden, Charles E. 1979 Peopling and Early Cultures of the Pacific Northwest: A view from British Columbia, Canada. Science 203(4384):963-971.
Petersen, Kenneth L., Peter J. Mehringer=Jr., and Carl E. Gustafson 1983 Late-Glacial Vegetation and Climate at the Manis Mastodon Site, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Quaternary Research 20:215-231.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
