Editor's Summary

11 May 2006

Humans cleared of overkill

The transition from Pleistocene to Holocene between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago was marked by the rapid extinction of many large mammals. The degree to which humans were involved in this has always been a matter of heated debate. Dale Guthrie addresses the issue with an unprecedentedly detailed look at the fauna of Alaska and the Yukon of the period, involving more than 600 radiocarbon dates on the bones of various animal species. Although mammoths and horses became extinct, animals such as the wapiti, bison and moose survived and thrived, suggesting that the faunal change was a function of ecological and vegetational change rather than human-induced 'overkill'.

Letter: New carbon dates link climatic change with human colonization and Pleistocene extinctions

R. Dale Guthrie

doi:10.1038/nature04604

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