Lost Bones – In search of Wesley Hurt’s Mammoth, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument’s Quarai Unit, central New Mexico By David M. Rachal Ph.D.1, Ronald C. D. Fields, M.A.2, and Marc LeFrancois2 1Tierra Vieja Consulting, Las Cruces, New Mexico. 2National Park Service, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, Mountainair, New Mexico.
In 1939, road construction at the Quarai unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument (SAPU) unearthed an Ice Age megafauna skeleton. Photographs taken at the time show a bone bed that consisted of a tooth, toe, several ribs, pelvis, a possible scapula or innominate, and a humerus belonging to a proboscidean, possibly a mammoth (Figures 1A-1C) (Fields, 2019). Archaeologist Wesley Hurt removed several of these bones from the road cut. However, a national search of museum collections has failed to locate the bones removed during Hurt’s expedition (Thorpe et al., 2017).
On December 11-13, 2019, a testing project was conducted to determine whether additional skeletal remains of the Hurt’s mammoth are still present in the road cut in the Quarai unit. The team consisted of 15 volunteers, one geomorphology consultant, and additional personnel from two government agencies (National Park Service and Natural Resource Conservation Service). The objectives of this project are as follows: 1) Locate the stratigraphic deposit that contained the mammoth skeleton; 2) Establish a coarse chronological framework to determine the relative age of the mammoth skeleton; and 3) Determine if human interaction with the animal could have occurred.
In order to locate the stratigraphic deposit that contained the mammoth skeleton, historic notes from Hibben (1941) were reviewed for stratigraphic clues that could be used to refine the approximate location of the bone bed within the road cut. For instance, Hibben (1941) stated that the mammoth bones were found immediately below a layer of alluvium and on top of a bed of reddish clay. This red clay transitions to a reduced or gleyed bluish color with depth. Auger probe transects were conducted across the top and north-facing side of the road cut in an attempt to locate this stratigraphic sequence. Each probe that contained this deposit was considered a high-value target. Three areas that contained this sequence were selected for backhoe trenching to determine if any additional fossil remains, fragments, and artifacts were present in this deposit.
Although no mammoth bones were recovered during the testing project, a compelling argument can be made for the approximate stratigraphic provenance of the skeleton within the road cut. For instance, we were able to locate a similar stratigraphic sequence described by Hibben (1941). This deposit (i.e., Unit II) contains two reduced horizons with an interbedded reddish clay bed (Figure 2A-2D). Interestedly, small bone fragments were recovered from the upper, reduced horizon in this deposit. It appears that these fragments belong to a limb bone of a medium-sized mammal like a bison or horse, both of which are common in New Mexico Pleistocene faunas (G. Morgan, personal communication, December 18, 2019). Given these lines of evidence, it is plausible that the mammoth bones were recovered from the red bed. Another fascinating aspect of this deposit is its age. Thelower and upper gleyed horizons in this unit yielded bulk sediment ages of ~18,960 rcybp and ~10,500 rcybp, respectively. This age range overlaps the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. If this age range is correct, the mammoth skeleton could possibly be terminal Pleistocene in age.
After reconstructing the landscape evolution sequence at the site, there are multiple possible scenarios for the cause of death of the Hurt’s mammoth. One scenario is that the mammoth died naturally from old age. Another situation is that the mammoth was an infant or was injured and killed by a large Ice Age predator, such as the American Lion (Panthrea atrox). However, if the mammoth skeleton had been recovered from the red bed documented by this study and is truly terminal Pleistocene in age than there is a possibility that human interaction with the animal could have occurred. As a result, it is possible that the mammoth could have been killed by Clovis or Pre-Clovis Paleoindian hunters. It could have also been killed elsewhere and cached at the base of the terrace by these Paleo-hunters for later use. Unfortunately, the team did not find either the bones belonging to the Hurt’s mammoth or Paleoindian artifacts in the road cut stratigraphy. In order to determine the exact cause of death and whether or not humans were involved, the physical remains of the mammoth will have to be discovered to adequately test each of these hypotheses.
Figure 1. Historic 1939 photographs of the mammoth remains discovered at Quarai. (A) A Photograph of a mammoth pelvis and possible sacrum. (B) A Photograph of a mammoth humerous. (identified by Bruce Huckell – UNM). Note the air pump for scale. (C) A Photograph of mammoth ribs. All photographs were taken by Wesley Hurt in 1939. All historical photographs are from Fields’ (2019) technical report.
Figure 2. Late Quaternary stratigraphy of the road cut. The precise location of the road cut is withheld in accordance with the requirements of the National Parks Service (NPS) compliance with U.S. law. Interested parties may apply to the NPS for the specific site location. (A) Simplified cross section of the road cut. (B-D)Photographs of drafted stratigraphic sections exposed in two backhoe trenches. Note the 10,500 yrs. and 18,900 yrs. BP radiocarbon dates in BHTs 1 and 2.