Ancient Hunters Preferred Female Mammoths for Hunting
It may be because females were smaller than males.
Ancient hunters of the Ice Age may have deliberately targeted female woolly mammoths. This conclusion was reached by researchers who studied the DNA of hundreds of mammoths from Europe and North America.
The sample included remains of 100 individuals from 11 large bone deposits aged 20-30 thousand years, associated with ancient human settlements. For comparison, scientists also analyzed samples from 421 animals that died in natural conditions.
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It turned out that in natural burials, 66% of the remains belonged to males, while in areas linked to human activity, the proportion of females reached 70%. Scientists believe that it was simply easier to hunt females.
Female mammoths were smaller than adult males. Additionally, they moved in groups with their young. When attacked, females could stay close to their calves longer, making it easier for hunters to surround the herd.
The predominance of males in natural burials is explained differently by scientists. Adult males often lived alone and could fall into pits, swamps, or landslides from which they could not escape.
New data suggest that many large bone deposits of mammoths may have formed not due to mass natural deaths but as a result of hunting.
According to paleoecologist Audrey Rowe, ancient humans may not have realized they were gradually depleting their resource base. However, history shows that this depletion did not significantly hinder ancient people.
