The University of Arizona Press
October 1, 2024
In a remote desert corner of Sonora, Mexico, the site of El Fin del Mundo offers the first recorded evidence of Paleoindian interactions with gomphotheres, an extinct species related to elephants.
El Fin del Mundo: A Clovis Site in Sonora, Mexico editors Vance Holliday, Guadalupe Sánchez, and Ismael Sánchez-Morales bring together the work of 14 contributors that present and synthesize the archaeological, geological, paleontological, and paleoenvironmental records of this important Clovis site.
Below. read an excerpt from Chapter 1 by Vance T. Holliday, Guadalupe Sánchez, Ismael Sánchez-Morales, and Edmund P. Gaines.
The Clovis occupation of North America is the oldest generally accepted and well documented archaeological assemblage on the continent, dating to ~13,000 cal yr B.P. (Meltzer 2021). The distinctive Clovis points have been reported from throughout most of the lower 48 United States, parts of Canada, as well as Mexico, throughout Central America, and possibly in Venezuela (Smith. Smallwood, and DeWitt 2015; Pearson 2017). Clovis is classically associated with mammoth, although only about 12 firm Clovis/mammoth associations are known (Grayson and Meltzer, 2015). Associations of Clovis and other late Pleistocene megafauna are more rare, consisting of mastodon and bison (Grayson and Meltzer 2015). In this volume we provide a full report on the site of El Fin del Mundo, the first documented Clovis association with gomphothere (Cuvieronius). The site is in Sonora, Mexico (Figure 1.1), making it the northernmost dated late Pleistocene gomphothere and the youngest in North America. It is the first documented intact, buried Clovis site outside of the United States and the first in situ Paleoindian site identified in northwestern Mexico. The site also includes a Clovis activity area on the “upland” surface (described in Chapter 2) that rises gradually from the area with the buried features. In addition, a paleontological bonebed below the Clovis level includes a rare association of mastodon, mammoth, and Cuvieronius sp. The site also provides a paleoenvironmental record rare for the region spanning the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM), Bølling-Allerød Chron, Younger Dryas Chron, and the early Holocene. These archaeological, geological, paleontological, and paleoenvironmental records are presented and synthesized here.
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In June 1997, during a visit to the municipal museum in Carbó, Sonora, north of Hermosillo, Guadalupe Sánchez and Vance Haynes observed an unfossilized mammoth femur and rib. The bones were recovered more than 30 years earlier on a remote ranch in the municipio of Pitiquito. The owner, Gustavo Placencia, invited the group to his ranch. They had to decline his generous offer due to the time (four hours one way) involved and lack of access to a suitable field vehicle required in the rainy season. The principal objective of the Spring, 2007 field season of the Proyecto was to visit all the known localities in northern Sonora where Paleoindian artifacts and/or remains of late Pleistocene megafauna were reported. A priority on this list was the remote ranch in the municipio of Pitiquito.
On February 5, 2007, Guadalupe Sánchez, along with Edmund Gaines and Alberto “Beto” Peña, led by Alejandro “Jano” Valdez, the ranch cowboy, visited the locality that produced the bones on display in the Carbó museum. The exposure was an “island” of sediment in the middle of an arroyo system. Two bone layers were observed, exposed in the profiles around the island (Figure 1.2). The size of the bone and presence of tusk fragments (Figure 1.3) indicated that both layers contained the remains of Pleistocene megafauna. The first artifact found was a yellow chert uniface (#45980) that had recently fallen from the exposed upper bone layer, confirming that the bonebed was archaeological. Shortly thereafter, a large rhyolite Clovis-style biface (#46021) was discovered about 3 meters from the island exposure, followed by discovery of the middle portion of a quartz crystal biface (#46022) next to the north wall exposure (Chapter 4). The team knew they had found a potentially important archaeological and paleontological site and named it “El Fin del Mundo” (the end of the world) on the basis of a comment made when the team first arrived at the site. On a return trip two days later, a complete Clovis point of white chert (#46023; Figure 1.4) was found about 28 meters to the south of the island, confirming the team’s suspicions that they had a new Paleoindian site.
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When necessary, fossil material recovered via excavation was stabilized using a 1:10 mixture of Resistol™ (akin to Elmer’s glue) and water. This was applied with either a paintbrush or an aerated sprayer along with ample water to ensure maximum penetration of the bone. In some cases, however, identifiable elements were removed without adding this material to keep them free from contamination that would affect radiocarbon analysis.
In some cases, the remains were encased in polyurethane foam to remove them in sound condition. This was accomplished by first applying wet tissue entirely around the bone surface. As the tissue dried it formed a protective casing that prevented the foam from sticking to the bones and facilitated removal in the laboratory. The remains were then encased in polyurethane foam that forms a 10- to 20-cm thick hardened jacket that holds them together and protects them during removal. Cardinal direction, unit number, and grid coordinate information were recorded on the polyurethane casing prior to removal. When possible, individual elements were jacketed separately. It was, however, necessary to group large concentrations of multiple bones together in a single polyurethane jacket.
