How did ancient people hunt? Start in science Have ancient people tamed mammoths

Niramin - Jun 6th, 2016

The main occupation of primitive people was to get food for themselves. They wandered after large animals, collected nuts, berries and various roots. And when they succeeded, they went hunting.

Prehistoric people were very good hunters. They learned to drive animals into traps. Traps were watery swamps or deep ditches. A group of hunters drove the animal right into the pit with noise, screams and fire. When the animal fell into the ditch, the hunters had only to finish it off and celebrate the prey.

Mammoths are huge animals, they were larger and heavier than modern elephants. Mammoth tusks could reach a length of 4 m and a weight of 100 kg. Scientists believe that mammoths used tusks as snow blowers to dig grass out of the snow for food.

The murder of one mammoth could feed the hunters for two months. Moreover, not a single part of the carcass of an animal was wasted. The meat was used for food, but what people couldn’t eat right away was dried and stored in storage rooms. They made warm clothes out of their skins and built huts. Bones were used as tools and weapons, as well as in the construction of huts.

The process of hunting for a mammoth was often depicted in primitive cave paintings of the tribes of that time. There is an opinion that people depicted in the drawings those animals that were worshiped or hunted. So the painting served as a kind of magical ritual, as if the image would attract a real animal during the hunt.

Hunting of primitive people for mammoths - in pictures and photos further:

   Photo: Rock painting of a mammoth.

   Photo: Cabin of mammoth bones in the Paleontological Museum of Kiev.

Video: 10,000 BC (1/10) Movie CLIP - The Mammoth Hunt (2008) HD

Video: 10,000 BC (2/10) Movie CLIP - Killing the Mammoth (2008) HD

Mammoth is a mystery that has been stirring the curiosity of researchers for more than two hundred years. What were these how they lived and why did they die out? All these questions still do not have exact answers. Some scholars blame hunger for their mass deaths, the second blame the ice age, and the third blame ancient hunters who destroyed herds for meat, skin and tusks. There is no official version.

Who are mammoths

The ancient mammoth was a mammal belonging to the elephant family. The main species had sizes comparable to the parameters of their close relatives - elephants. Their mass often did not exceed 900 kg, the growth did not go beyond 2 meters. However, there were more “representative” varieties, whose weight reached 13 tons and a height of 6 meters.

Mammoths were distinguished from elephants by a more bulky body, short legs and long hair. A characteristic feature is the curved large tusks that were used by prehistoric animals to dig food out from under the snow blockages. They also had molars with a large number of dentin-enamel thin plates, which served for the processing of fibrous coarse fodder.

Appearance

The structure of the skeleton, which the ancient mammoth possessed, is largely reminiscent of the structure of the Indian elephant living in our days. Of greatest interest are giant tusks, the length of which could reach up to 4 meters, weight - up to 100 kg. They were located in the upper jaw, grew forward and bent upward, "dispersing" to the sides.

The tail and ears, tightly pressed to the skull, were small in size, there was a straight black bang on the head, and a hump stood out on the back. A large body with a slightly lowered back was based on stable legs-pillars. The legs had an almost horn-like (very thick) sole, reaching a diameter of 50 cm.

The coat had a light brown or yellowish-brown hue, the tail, legs and withers were decorated with noticeable black spots. The fur "skirt" fell from the sides, almost reaching the ground. The “clothing” of prehistoric animals was very warm.

Tusk

Mammoth is an animal whose tusk was unique not only with increased strength, but also with a unique gamut of colors. The bones lay underground for several millennia, mineralized. Their shades have gained a wide range - from purple to snow-white. Darkening resulting from the work of nature increases the cost of a tusk.

The tusks of prehistoric animals were not as perfect as the tools of elephants. They easily ground, got cracked. It is believed that mammoths with their help mined for themselves food - branches, tree bark. Sometimes 4 tusks formed in animals, the second pair was distinguished by subtlety, often merged with the main one.

Unique colors make mammoth tusks demanded in the production of luxury caskets, snuffboxes, chess sets. They are used to create gift figurines, ladies' jewelry, and expensive weapons. Artificial reproduction of special colors is not possible, which is why the high cost of products created on the basis of mammoth tusks is associated. Real, of course, not fake.

Everyday life of mammoths

60 years is the average life expectancy of giants that lived on the earth several millennia ago. Mammoth - it was mainly grassy plants, woody shoots, small shrubs, moss that served as food for him. The daily rate is about 250 kg of vegetation, which forced the animals to spend about 18 hours daily on food, constantly changing their location in search of fresh pasture.

Researchers are convinced that mammoths practiced herd life, gathered in small groups. The standard group consisted of 9-10 adult representatives of the species, and the cubs were also present. As a rule, the role of leader of the herd was assigned to the oldest female.

By 10 years, the animals reached puberty. Mature males at this time left the maternal herd, passing to a solitary existence.

Habitat

Modern studies have found that mammoths that appeared on earth about 4.8 million years ago disappeared only about 4 thousand years ago, and not 9-10, as previously assumed. These animals lived on the lands of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The bones of powerful animals, drawings and sculptures depicting them are often found in the sites of ancient inhabitants

Mammoths in Russia were also distributed in large numbers, in particular, Siberia is famous for interesting finds. A huge "cemetery" of these animals was discovered in Khanty-Mansiysk even a monument was erected in their honor. By the way, it was in the lower reaches of the Lena that the remains of the mammoth were first (officially) found.

Mammoths in Russia, or rather, their remains, are still being discovered.

Causes of extinction

Until now, the history of mammoths has large gaps. In particular, this concerns the causes of their extinction. The most diverse versions are being put forward. The original hypothesis was expressed by Jean Baptiste Lamarck. According to the scientist, the absolute extinction of the biological species is not possible, it only turns into another. However, the official descendants of mammoths are currently not identified.

I disagree with my colleague, blaming the death of the mammoths for the flood (or other global disasters that took place during the disappearance of the population). He claims that the Earth often faced short-term catastrophes that completely destroyed a particular species.

Brocci, a paleontologist originally from Italy, believes that a certain period of existence is given to every living creature on the planet. The scientist compares the disappearance of entire species with the aging and death of the body, therefore, in his opinion, the mysterious history of mammoths ended.

The most popular theory, with many adherents in the scientific community, is climate. About 15-10 thousand years ago, in connection with the northern zone of the tundra-steppe, it became a swamp, the southern one was filled with coniferous forests. Grasses that previously formed the basis of the ration of animals were replaced by moss and branches, which, according to scientists, led to their extinction.

Ancient hunters

How the first humans hunted mammoths is definitely not established so far. It is the hunters of those times who are often accused of extermination of large animals. In favor of the version speak products created from tusks and skins, which are constantly found in the parking lots of inhabitants of ancient times.

However, research today makes this assumption increasingly dubious. According to a number of scientists, people only finished off the weak and sick representatives of the species without hunting for healthy ones. Bogdanov, the creator of the work “Secrets of a Missing Civilization”, makes reasonable arguments in favor of the impossibility of hunting mammoths. He believes that it is simply impossible to break through the skin of these animals with the weapons possessed by the inhabitants of the ancient Earth.

Another good argument is sinewy tough meat, which is almost unsuitable for food.

Close relatives

Elefasprimigenius - this is the name of the mammoths in Latin. The name indicates their close kinship with elephants, as the translation sounds like "first-born elephant." There are even hypotheses that the mammoth is the progenitor of modern elephants, which were the result of evolution, adaptation to a warm climate.

A study by German scientists who compared the DNA of a mammoth and an elephant suggests that the Indian elephant and mammoth are two branches whose genealogy has been going on from the African elephant for about 6 million years. The ancestor of this animal, as shown by modern discoveries, lived on Earth about 7 million years ago, which makes the version entitled to exist.

Known instances

“The Last Mammoth” is a title that can be assigned to the young Dima, a six-month-old mammoth, whose remains were found by workers in 1977 near Magadan. About 40 thousand years ago, this baby fell through the ice, which caused him to mummify. This is, of course, the best surviving specimen that has been discovered by mankind. Dimka has become a source of valuable information for those involved in the study of an extinct species.

Adams's mammoth is just as famous, becoming the first full-fledged skeleton to be shown to the public. This happened back in 1808, since then the copy is located in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences. The find belonged to the hunter Osip Shumakhov, who lived by collecting mammoth bones.

The Berezovsky mammoth has a similar history, it was also found by the tusks hunter on the banks of one of the rivers of Siberia. The conditions for excavating the remains could not be called favorable; extraction was carried out in parts. The surviving mammoth bones became the basis for the giant skeleton, and soft tissues became the object of study. Death overtook the animal at age 55.

Matilda, a female of a prehistoric appearance, was completely discovered by schoolchildren. An event happened in 1939, the remains were discovered on the banks of the Oesh River.

Revival is possible

Modern researchers do not cease to be interested in such a prehistoric animal as a mammoth. The significance of prehistoric finds for science is nothing but the motivation that underlies all attempts to resurrect it. So far, attempts to clone an extinct species do not produce tangible results. The reason for this is the lack of material of the required quality. However, research in this area does not think to stop. Currently, scientists rely on the remains of a female found not so long ago. The instance is valuable in that it has retained liquid blood.

Despite the failure of cloning, it was proved that the appearance of the ancient inhabitant of the Earth was restored exactly, as well as his habits. Mammoths look exactly as they are presented on the pages of textbooks. The most interesting discovery is the closer the residence period of the discovered species to our time, the more fragile its skeleton.

For a person from the past, the main activity was gathering and hunting, and this ensured their existence without hunger. Interesting information has reached our time about how mammoths were hunted, because it was thanks to this that they managed to get not only meat, but also clothes that were created from the skins of dead animals.

Such an animal as a mammoth is known to modern man as the prototype of an elephant, which today can be seen at the zoo or on television. This is a mammal of impressive size, which belongs to the elephant family. Shaggy elephants surprised ancient ancestors with their weight and height, when the largest reached a height of more than six meters and weighed at least twelve tons.

The ancient representative of the animal world differed from the elephant with a more bulky base and short legs, and its skin was covered with long and shaggy hair. A characteristic feature of the mammoth were massive tusks, which acquired a particularly pronounced bend. The prehistoric representative used this element to dig food out from under the snow blockages. And, it would seem that a small person is not able to kill such an animal for selfish purposes. Despite the primitive tool and ignorance of the laws of nature, people managed to learn how to conduct a successful hunt for mammoths.

The desire to get more meat food, which helped to survive in harsh living conditions, led to the fact that ways were found to capture and kill large animals, most often which became mammoths. Naturally, such an adventure was not within the power of one person, so they were chosen in groups in the hunt, which led to the desired result.

Although today, each of the options for hunting can be called into question, based on the opinion of scientists. It is they who claim that most likely people living in prehistoric times only finished off animals that were sick and weak, and could not take care of their safety.

The author of The Secrets of a Missing Civilization is convinced that with the quality of the tools that ancient people possessed, it was almost impossible to penetrate the skin of a powerful animal. Bogdanov also says that mammoth meat was tough and sinewy, so it’s not at all suitable for food.

Without living in antiquity and not being one of the representatives of the Paleolithic, it is difficult to verify the information that comes to a person as reliable. Therefore, to a greater extent, you have to take many things on faith. Next, versions that are considered official and truthful will simply be considered.

If based on the presentation of many contemporary artists and archaeologists, the hunt for mammoths was as follows. The main idea in capturing a mammoth was to dig a deep hole, which posed a great danger to the animal. A cavity dug in the ground was covered with a pre-prepared pole, which was masked by leaves, branches, grass and everything that could not cause alertness in the animal.

Under various circumstances, a mammoth weighing several tons could accidentally fall into this hole itself, from which it could not get out. Then representatives of the tribes came to the place of capture and finished off the animal with their pointed sticks, clubs and stones. Still as a reliability of the trap, stakes were installed at the bottom of the pit. Also, primitive representatives drove the mammoth into this hole, creating wild cries and screams, as a result of which the frightened animal fell into the prepared funnel.

People carefully studied the habits and habits of animals, so the road that led the animals to a watering place was often known. If it happened to encounter an animal in an area where there were mountains, then it was driven to a cliff and forced the mammoth to stumble and fall. And the already crashed animal was subjected to butchering. These are the most famous methods that were used by ancient people to capture mammoths.

Most often, the pits that served as traps for the ancient elephants, after his death, became an excellent pantry for meat obtained from a massive animal. Such a supply allowed for a long time not to worry about the need to get food again.

Everyone can only guess if these are real mammoth hunting methods or not. It is simply hard to believe that mammoths were stupid animals and allowed themselves to be driven into a trap where death awaited them. After all, one has only to look into the eyes of a modern elephant - mind and kindness are read there.

Teenagers who read books about the life of primitive people are sure that there are no secrets in this hunt. Everything is simple. Having bristled with spears, savages surround a huge mammoth and deal with it. Until recently, many archaeologists were convinced of this. However, new discoveries, as well as analysis of earlier findings, make us rethink the usual truths. So, archaeologists from the Institute of Primitive and Early History at the University of Cologne studied 46 sites and hunting sites of Neanderthals in Germany, examined thousands of animal bones found here. Their conclusion is clear. Ancient hunters were very calculating people. They weighed all the consequences of their actions, and therefore were in no hurry to rush at the huge beast. They intentionally chose prey of a certain type, and attacked individuals weighing less than a ton. The list of their trophies includes wild horses, deer, steppe buffalo. At least, it was 40-60 thousand years ago (this is the age of the investigated finds). But it was not only the choice of the victim that was important. Primitive people did not wander aimlessly through forests and valleys in the hope that they would be lucky. No, the hunt became for them a kind of military operation, which had to be carefully prepared. It was necessary, for example, to find a place in the forest or the steppe where it would have been possible to strike at the enemy with the least casualties. The steep riverbanks were a real find for the “generals of prey”. Here, the earth suddenly left under the feet of the intended victim. The invisible spirits of the rivers seemed to be ready in all respects to help the people who came here. It was possible to hide near a watering hole and, jumping out of an ambush, to kill the gaping animals. Or wait near the ford. Here, stretched out in a chain, animals, one after another, carefully probing the bottom, move to the other side. They move slowly, cautiously. At these moments they are very vulnerable, which the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals, who gathered their bloody catch, knew well. The cunning and prudence of the ancient hunters are easily explained by their weakness. Their opponents were animals, sometimes weighing ten times more than they. And I had to fight in close combat, staying next to the beast, furious from pain and fear. After all, before the invention of the bow, primitive man had to get close to prey. Spear attacks inflicted from fifteen meters, not further. The beast was beaten with a peak, and at all from three meters. So, if the operation "Broad" or "Watering" was planned, the fighters had to hide somewhere behind the bushes, close to the water, in order to reduce to a limit the distance separating from the beast. Exposure and accuracy meant life here. Haste and oversight are death. Throwing, as in a bayonet attack, with a pointed stick at an adult mammoth, is like death. And people hunted to still survive. The myth of the brave men who, with a spear in their hand, blocked the path of the ancient elephants, was born immediately after the Second World War. It arose not from scratch. In the spring of 1948, in the town of Leringen, in Lower Saxony, during the construction work, the skeleton of a forest elephant, which died 90 thousand years ago, was discovered. A spear lay between the edges of the animal, assured amateur archeologist Alexander Rosenstock, the first to investigate the find. This eleven-piece spear, which has since been considered the main argument of those who painted the mad courage of primitive people. But did that memorable hunt take place? A recent study refuted the obvious findings. In that distant era, on the spot where the remains of an elephant were discovered, was the edge of the lake. It was connected by channels to other surrounding lakes. The current rolled objects that got into the water, for example, the same spear, transferring them from one place to another. It seems that with this spear they were not even going to hunt. Judging by the blunted end, they dug the land on the shore, and then dropped it into the water, and the current carried it to the lake, where it rested on the carcass of an animal that blocked its path. If the hunt took place that day, then there was nothing heroic in it. An old elephant was dying on the lake. His legs were bowed, his body sank to the ground. From the crowd of people watching from afar the last convulsions of the beast, a young man resolutely came out. He took a spear. Came close. Looked around. Hit. Nothing dangerous. The elephant didn’t even move. What is the strength drove a spear into it. Waved the rest. You can cut the booty. This is also a plausible scenario. But what about other finds? Torralba in Spain, Gröburn and Neumark Nord in Germany - there were also found skeletons of mammoths killed by people. However, the first impression was again deceptive. Having re-examined the bones of animals, archaeologists found only characteristic traces of processing their stone tools - obviously, traces of cutting carcasses, but this does not prove that primitive people personally defeated this prey. After all, the thickness of the skin of an adult mammoth, which reached about 4 meters in height, ranged from 2.5 to 4 centimeters. A primitive wooden spear could, at best, inflict a lacerated wound on an animal, but not kill it — all the more so since the “right of the next blow” remained with the enraged elephant. And was the game worth the candle? In fact, the mammoth was not such a profitable prey. Most of his carcass would simply be rotten. “Neanderthals were smart people. They wanted to get maximum meat with minimum risk for themselves, ”archaeologists say with one voice. Neanderthals lived in small groups, which numbered 5–7 people. In the warmer months, such a tribe took half a month to eat 400 kilograms of meat. If the carcass weighed more, the rest would have to be thrown out. Well, what about the anatomically modern man who settled in Europe 40 thousand years ago? No wonder he is a "rational creature" by definition. Maybe he knew the secrets of hunting mammoths? Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen examined the mammoth bones found in caves near Ulm, where the sites of the people of the Gravett culture were located (by the time it appeared, Neanderthals had already died out). The analysis of the findings gave an unambiguous result. In all cases, carcasses of young mammoths from two weeks to two months old were cut. Employees of the Paris Museum of Natural History examined another site of people of the Gravette culture, located in the town of Miloviche in the Czech Republic. The remains of 21 mammoths are revealed here. In seventeen cases, these are cubs, and in four more, young animals. The Miloviche parking lot was located on the slope of a small valley, whose bottom was made of loess. In spring, when young mammoths were born, the frozen ground thawed, and loess turned into a mash in which young individuals were stuck. Kindred could not help them. The hunters waited for the herd to leave, and then finished off the victim. Perhaps people deliberately drove mammoths into this “swamp”, scaring them with torches. But what about brave men? Really there were no those who with a spear at the ready desperately rushed at the mammoth, not sparing their belly? Probably there were such daredevils. Only heroes - they are heroes to die young, for example, under the feet of an angry elephant. We, in all likelihood, are the descendants of those prudent hunters who could wait for days from an ambush for days until a lonely baby mammoth dies in the trap where he landed. But we, their descendants, are alive, and usually only memory remains of the heroes.

Mammoths and two-legged

Winter. The bygone times of glaciation of the highlands of the North-East of Yakutia. Flat, in places slightly tuberous plain covered with white snow. Dazzlingly bright rays of the sun with colorful sparkles play on this snowy white silence. In a gentle wind, the yellow heads of rare-standing cereals protruding from under the snow quietly sway. In the distance, a noticeably arched shape of a long lake - the old man. At her bend a herd of mammoths calmly grazes. Each of them in size resembles a huge cart or haystack, placed on four thick chocks. But among them there is also a very playful, mobile young growth of much smaller sizes. Not inferior in size to modern large bulls, the "kids" start amusing offensive-retreating games and arrange a rush around the majestic relatives.

Around is quiet and calm. The giants of these expanses, cleverly wielding their huge tusks, rake the snow, with powerful jaws they chew the dead grass and coarse shrub vegetation extracted from under the snow.

But the silence on the snowy plain and the undisturbed peace of the mighty mammoths turned out to be deceptive. Behind them patiently and hidden   the wise and treacherous two-legged beings - people, watched. Dressed in animal skins, hunters with deafening screams jumped out unexpectedly from behind the hillocks. The leader of the mammoths made an alarming roar and led his herd away from people - to the lake. The cunning trick of the hunters worked: the animals fled to meet their certain death. As soon as they began to cross over the lake covered with ice and snow, terrible cracks swept underfoot. The distraught animals instinctively gathered in a dense crowd. Half-meter ice could not withstand the weight of animals accumulated in one place, and the whole herd of mammoths was in deep ice water. Mighty animals in mortal horror began to crush each other, floundering in the water, turning many-ton blocks of ice, turning like light toys. Weak animals were under water, and strong animals with flexible trunks and strong tusks frantically beat the edge of the ice. But soon their strength was exhausted. A whole herd of mammoths died without exception and became the prey of the savvy hunters of the Stone Age. The latter began to perform an incredibly energetic ritual dance of luck ...

According to competent experts, the life of the Stone Age tribes depended in many respects on the extraction of large animals. By hunting only small game, they could not provide all the needs of their existence. The people of the Stone Age, not having tools for hunting large animals, still knew the "Achilles' heel" of such gregarious and heavy animals like mammoths. They excellently mastered the method of hunting mammoths and their companions (woolly rhinos, bison, wild horses) corral through ice.

Today's people are surprised by the huge accumulations of bones - cemeteries of the most age-related mammoths. Scientists put forward various versions of the clues to this mystery. Very valuable finds often appear on the experts table — shreds of red, dark gray or black wool, bones with dried tendons. Occasionally, scientists get whole skeletons and the remains of corpses of mammoths, rhinos, fossil buffalo and horses. Researchers study stone or bone arrowheads and spears of Stone Age hunters, argue about hunting methods and techniques, and the ability of primitive people to survive in extreme icing conditions is surprised.

Starting from the Stone Age, humanity has gone through centuries of bronze and iron.

In the history of mankind, the Stone Age is estimated at approximately two million years or a little more. Then people coexisted first with the ancient elephants, then - with mammoths and other giants, who lived during the Quaternary glaciation.

According to the research of P. Wood, L. Vachek and others (1972), 400-500 thousand years ago in the European part of the world people hunted ancient elephants. On the territory of Yakutia (counting the primitive people of Deering-Yuryakh), hunting tribes appeared about 35 thousand years ago. They, until the complete disappearance of mammoths from the face of the earth, at least hunted them for at least 250 centuries. In the Ice Age, in search of prey, these tribes spread to North America.

People killed mammoths?

Scientists have long agreed somehow by default that modern man is the main enemy of all life on Earth. As it turned out, this is hereditary. According to the American archaeologist Tod Sorovil, it was people who made a decisive contribution to the disappearance of mammoths from our planet.

Until now, it was believed that ancient mammals died out as a result of a sharp climate change that occurred from 50 to 100 thousand years ago. Then two-thirds of the animals died. Meanwhile, according to Sorovil, natural disasters played only a minor role in this. The scientist made his shocking conclusions based on a study of 41 districts in which the bones of the ancestors of elephants were found. Comparing these places, he found a curious pattern: mammoths died out much faster where the sites of ancient people were nearby. In those areas where people did not have time to settle, the natural death of mammoths occurred much later.

Despite the absence of the greenhouse effect and ozone holes in those immemorial times, people, it turns out, did pretty well without the costs of the national economy. Although there was no global market for furs then, the skins of mammoths were in great demand - apparently, this was the main garment of our prehistoric ancestors. And mammoth meat was almost the main delicacy. Moreover, it was necessary to get all this on their own - an active hunt led, as a result, to the complete destruction of the "shaggy elephants."

http://www.utro.ru/articles/2005/04/12/427979.shtml

American scientists inflicted a crushing defeat on scientific opponents studying the causes of the disappearance of mammoths from the face of the Earth, pointing out the absurdity of the assumption that they fell victim to the gastronomic intemperance of our ancestors. In recent years, the unfortunate fact of finding an extremely small number of complete skeletons of these fossil animals was explained by the fact that most of them fell under the primeval carving knife. Other hypotheses, such as an environmental disaster or a deadly epidemic, were rejected as untenable.

But the Americans rehabilitated their ancestors. At an international conference in Hot Springs, a researcher with a surprisingly suitable surname Firestone said that mammoths were not killed by an animal disease or human gluttony. They ceased to exist as a result of the activity of a supernova, which brought down a hail of radioactive meteorites to Earth.

Until now, talking about the disappearance of mammoths, scientists agreed on one thing - they completely died out 11-13 thousand years ago; everything else was just speculation. Richard Firestone voiced his. About 41 thousand years ago, a supernova appeared at a distance of 250 light-years from Earth. First, cosmic radiation reached our planet, followed by a stream of particles of ice, which began to bombard the habitats of mammoths.

The Americans even found traces of this radiation, for which they had to go to Iceland and delve into the marine sediments. Having gotten to the right layers, they found an unusually high concentration of C-14 carbon, which was explained by the influence of radiation from the very ill-fated supernova. And in layers corresponding to the period of untimely death of mammoths, radioactive pieces of ice were found.

It should be noted that Mr. Firestone was so kind that he did not begin to completely break all other hypotheses about the causes of the death of mammoths. With full confidence, he said that only the inhabitants of North America fell from the cosmic impact. However, the geographical position of Iceland, namely: its equidistance from the North American continent and Eurasia, still leaves no reason to blame the death of mammoths for excessively voracious primitive people.