First AMS radiocarbon date and stable C:N isotope analysis for the Mount Holly Mammoth, Vermont, USA

Kitchel, Nathaniel R.; Desilva, Jeremy M.

doi:10.1111/bor.12517

Cited by 2Archaeology and ancient environmental studiesPleistocene-Era Hominins and ArchaeologyGeology and Paleoclimatology Research

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

First AMS radiocarbon date and stable C:N isotope analysis for the Mount Holly Mammoth, Vermont, USA

Kitchel, Nathaniel R., Desilva, Jeremy M.·2021·Boreas

DOI 10.1111/bor.12517

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Proboscidean remains have been documented in New England for well over a century, yet few radiocarbon dates exist for these animals in the region. Here, we report the first AMS radiocarbon date and stable carbon:nitrogen isotope analysis for the Mount Holly mammoth, Mount Holly, Vermont. Among proboscidean finds in New England the date of 10 860±30 (12 882–12 792 cal. BP) from the Mount Holly mammoth is the most recent radiocarbon date for a mammoth or mastodon in New England and the most precisely dated specimen possibly post-dating the accepted age of the initial human settlement of the region during the onset of the Younger Dryas. Stable nitrogen isotope values are low for mammoths both regionally and globally, but consistent with a pattern of falling δ15N values for mammoths following the Last Glacial Maximum with particularly low values during the Younger Dryas.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/bor.12517

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
Reimer, P. J., Austin, W. E. N., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Blackwell, P. G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Butzin, M., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Friedrich, M., et al. (2020) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/rdc.2020.41 · Cited by 7,900 · cited 1×
“4 (Bronk Ramsey 2020) using the IntCal20 calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2020), yields a calibrated age range of 12 882–12 792 cal. a BP (95.4% probability).”
MethodInfluential
Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction
DeNiro, M. J. (1985) · Nature · doi:10.1038/317806a0 · Cited by 2,440
Preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis
Ambrose, S. H. (1990) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/0305-4403(90)90007-r · Cited by 1,866
New Method of Collagen Extraction for Radiocarbon Dating
LONGIN, R. (1971) · Nature · doi:10.1038/230241a0 · Cited by 1,813
Bone Collagen Quality Indicators for Palaeodietary and Radiocarbon Measurements
KLINKEN, G. J. V. (1999) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1006/jasc.1998.0385 · Cited by 1,718
Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science
Beerling, D. J., Lajtha, K., & Michener, R. H. (1995) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.2307/5661 · Cited by 1,264
Trophic level isotopic enrichment of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen: case studies from recent and ancient terrestrial ecosystems
Bocherens, H., & Drucker, D. G. (2003) · International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · doi:10.1002/oa.662 · Cited by 953
Performance of catalytically condensed carbon for use in accelerator mass spectrometry
Vogel, J. S., Southon, J. R., Nelson, D. E., & Brown, T. A. (1984) · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms · doi:10.1016/0168-583x(84)90529-9 · Cited by 695
Nitrogen isotopes in mammalian herbivores: hair δ 15 N values from a controlled feeding study
Sponheimer, M., Robinson, T. F., Ayliffe, L. K., Roeder, B. L., Hammer, J. D., Passey, B. H., West, A. G., Cerling, T. E., Dearing, M. D., & Ehleringer, J. R. (2003) · International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · doi:10.1002/oa.655 · Cited by 401
Paleobiological Implications of the Isotopic Signatures (13C,15N) of Fossil Mammal Collagen in Scladina Cave (Sclayn, Belgium)
Bocherens, H., Billiou, D., Patou‐Mathis, M., Bonjean, D., Otte, M., & Mariotti, A. A. (1997) · Quaternary Research · doi:10.1006/qres.1997.1927 · Cited by 302
Pleistocene megafauna from eastern Beringia: Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope and radiocarbon records
Fox‐Dobbs, K., Leonard, J. A., & Koch, P. L. (2008) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.12.011 · Cited by 180
Variations in bone collagen δ13C and δ15N values of fauna from Northwest Europe over the last 40 000 years
Richards, M. P., & Hedges, R. E. M. (2003) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(03)00229-3 · Cited by 156
Revisiting old bones: coupled carbon isotope analysis of bioapatite and collagen as an ecological and palaeoecological tool
Clementz, M. T., Fox‐Dobbs, K., Wheatley, P. V., Koch, P. L., & Doak, D. F. (2009) · Geological Journal · doi:10.1002/gj.1173 · Cited by 153
C and N stable isotope measurements on Eurasian fossil mammals, 40 000 to 10 000 years BP: Herbivore physiologies and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
Iacumin, P., Nikolaev, V., & Ramigni, M. (2000) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(00)00141-3 · Cited by 142
Stable isotope abundances (13C, 15N) in collagen and soft tissues from Pleistocene mammals from Yakutia: Implications for the palaeobiology of the Mammoth Steppe
Bocherens, H., Pacaud, G., Lazarev, P. A., & Mariotti, A. A. (1996) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(96)00068-5 · Cited by 127
Sealing, whaling and caribou: the skeletal isotope chemistry of Eastern Arctic foragers
Coltrain, J. B., Hayes, M. G., & O’Rourke, D. H. (2003) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2003.06.003 · Cited by 115
Mammuthus Population Dynamics in Late Pleistocene North America: Divergence, Phylogeography, and Introgression
Enk, J. M., Devault, A. M., Widga, C., Saunders, J. J., Szpak, P., Southon, J. R., Rouillard, J. M., Shapiro, B., Golding, G. B., Zazula, G. D., et al. (2016) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2016.00042 · Cited by 101
How many elephant kills are 14?
Surovell, T. A., & Waguespack, N. M. (2008) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2007.12.001 · Cited by 100
Early Human Settlement of Northeastern North America
Lothrop, J. C., Lowery, D. L., Spiess, A. E., & Ellis, C. J. (2016) · PaleoAmerica · doi:10.1080/20555563.2016.1212178 · Cited by 94
Nitrogen isotope analyses of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), 45,000 BP to 9,000 BP: Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions
Stevens, R. E., Jacobi, R. M., Street, M., Germonpré, M., Conard, N. J., Münzel, S. C., & Hedges, R. E. M. (2008) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.01.019 · Cited by 90
Regional differences in bone collagen δ13C and δ15N of Pleistocene mammoths: Implications for paleoecology of the mammoth steppe
Szpak, P., Gröcke, D. R., Debruyne, R., MacPhee, R. D. E., Guthrie, R. D., FROESE, D. G., Zazula, G. D., Patterson, W. P., & Poinar, H. N. (2010) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.12.009 · Cited by 89
Mycological evidence of coprophagy from the feces of an Alaskan Late Glacial mammoth
Geel, B. V., Guthrie, R. D., Altmann, J. G., Broekens, P., Bull, I. D., Gill, F., Jansen, B., Nieman, A. M., & Gravendeel, B. (2010) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.03.008 · Cited by 82
A Paleoindian response to Younger Dryas climate change
Newby, P. E., Bradley, J., Spiess, A., Shuman, B. N., & Leduc, P. L. (2004) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.04.010 · Cited by 79
Northeastern North American Pleistocene megafauna chronologically overlapped minimally with Paleoindians
Boulanger, M. T., & Lyman, R. L. (2013) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.11.024 · Cited by 78
Solving the woolly mammoth conundrum: amino acid 15N-enrichment suggests a distinct forage or habitat
Schwartz‐Narbonne, R., Longstaffe, F. J., Metcalfe, J. Z., & Zazula, G. D. (2015) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep09791 · Cited by 72
Isotopic biogeochemistry and the palaeoecology of the mammoth steppe fauna
Bocherens, H. (2003) · Cited by 67
Contribution of isotopic biogeochemistry (13C,15N,18O) to the paleoecology of mammoths(mammuthus primigenius)
Bocherens, H., Fizet, M., Mariotti, A. A., Gangloff, R. A., & Burns, J. A. (1994) · Historical Biology · doi:10.1080/10292389409380453 · Cited by 65
Mastodont Procurement by Paleoindians of the Great Lakes Region: Hunting or Scavenging?
Fisher, D. C. (1987) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-8833-3_9 · Cited by 63
Taphonomic analysis of late Pleistocene mastodon occurrences: evidence of butchery by North American Paleo-Indians
Fisher, D. C. (1984) · Paleobiology · doi:10.1017/s0094837300008319 · Cited by 61
Megafaunal isotopes reveal role of increased moisture on rangeland during late Pleistocene extinctions
Rabanus‐Wallace, M. T., Wooller, M. J., Zazula, G. D., Shute, E., Jahren, A. H., Kosintsev, P. A., Burns, J. A., Breen, J., Llamas, B., & Cooper, A. (2017) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0125 · Cited by 60
Late Pleistocene proboscidean population dynamics in the North American Midcontinent
Widga, C., Lengyel, S. N., Saunders, J. J., Hodgins, G. W. L., Walker, J. D., & Wanamaker, A. D. (2017) · Boreas · doi:10.1111/bor.12235 · Cited by 57
Paleobiology and Extinction of Proboscideans in the Great Lakes Region of North America
Fisher, D. C. (2008) · Vertebrate paleobiology and paleoanthroplogy series/Vertebrate paleobiology and paleoanthropology series · doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_4 · Cited by 53
Proboscideans and paleoenvironments of the Pleistocene Great Lakes: landscape, vegetation, and stable isotopes
Metcalfe, J. Z., Longstaffe, F. J., & Hodgins, G. W. L. (2013) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.004 · Cited by 51
Wooly mammoth mass accumulation next to the Paleolithic Yana RHS site, Arctic Siberia: its geology, age, and relation to past human activity
Basilyan, A. E., Anisimov, M. A., Nikolskiy, P. A., & Питулько, В. В. (2011) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.05.017 · Cited by 51
Mammoth ivory technologies in the Upper Palaeolithic: a case study based on the materials from Yana RHS, Northern Yana-Indighirka lowland, Arctic Siberia
Питулько, В. В., Pavlova, E. Y., & Nikolskiy, P. A. (2015) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.2015.1030508 · Cited by 49
Temperate mountain grasslands: a climate‐herbivore hypothesis for origins and persistence
Weigl, P. D., & Knowles, T. W. (2013) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.12063 · Cited by 42
Climate information from C, N and O stable isotope analyses of mammoth bones from northern Siberia
Iacumin, P., Matteo, A. D., Nikolaev, V. I., & Kuznetsova, T. V. (2009) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.009 · Cited by 40
The Mastodon Giganteus of North America
Warren, J. C. (1854) · The American Journal of the Medical Sciences · doi:10.1097/00000441-185407000-00022 · Cited by 30
Bone stable isotopic signatures (15N, 18O) as tracers of temperature variation during the Late‐glacial and early Holocene: case study on red deer Cervus elaphus from Rochedane (Jura, France)
Drucker, D. G., Bridault, A., Iacumin, P., & Bocherens, H. (2009) · Geological Journal · doi:10.1002/gj.1170 · Cited by 27
Life histories and niche dynamics in late Quaternary proboscideans from midwestern North America
Widga, C., Hodgins, G. W. L., Kolis, K., Lengyel, S. N., Saunders, J., Walker, J. D., & Wanamaker, A. D. (2020) · Quaternary Research · doi:10.1017/qua.2020.85 · Cited by 27
The Mastodon giganteus of North America /
Warren, J. C. (1852) · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.62016 · Cited by 26
Spatial Fingerprint of Younger Dryas Cooling and Warming in Eastern North America
Fastovich, D., Russell, J. M., Jackson, S. T., Krause, T. R., Marcott, S. A., & Williams, J. W. (2020) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2020gl090031 · Cited by 26
Taxonomy, location of origin and health status of proboscideans from Western Canada investigated using stable isotope analysis
Metcalfe, J. Z., Longstaffe, F. J., Jass, C. N., Zazula, G. D., & Keddie, G. (2016) · Journal of Quaternary Science · doi:10.1002/jqs.2849 · Cited by 24
Woolly mammoth δ13C and δ15N values remained amazingly stable throughout the last ∼50,000 years in north-eastern Siberia
Kuitems, M., van Kolfschoten, T., Tikhonov, A., & van der Plicht, J. (2019) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.001 · Cited by 24
Implications of a Bayesian radiocarbon calibration of colonization ages for mammalian megafauna in glaciated New York State after the Last Glacial Maximum
Feranec, R. S., & Kozlowski, A. (2016) · Quaternary Research · doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2016.01.003 · Cited by 22
Late Pleistocene mammoth remains from Coastal Maine, USA
Hoyle, B. G., Fisher, D. C., Borns, H. W., Churchill-Dickson, L., Dorion, C. C., & Weddle, T. K. (2004) · Quaternary Research · doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2004.02.006 · Cited by 21
Proboscidean isotopic compositions provide insight into ancient humans and their environments
Metcalfe, J. Z. (2017) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.12.003 · Cited by 21
Late Pleistocene climate and proboscidean paleoecology in North America: Insights from stable isotope compositions of skeletal remains
Metcalfe, J. Z. (2011) · Scholarship@Western (Western University) · Cited by 17
Questioning the visibility of the landscape learning process during the Paleoindian colonization of northeastern North America
Kitchel, N. R. (2016) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.10.009 · Cited by 15
Self-citation
New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA
Feranec, R. S., & Kozlowski, A. (2012) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s003382220004697x · Cited by 12
Natural History of Vermont
Countryman, W. D., & Thompson, Z. (1975) · Bird-Banding · doi:10.2307/4512127 · Cited by 8
The contribution of Late Pleistocene megafauna finds to submerged archaeology and the interpretation of ancient coastal landscapes
Claesson, S., Baleka, S., Hofreiter, M., & Widga, C. (2017) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.08.007 · Cited by 4
AMS Radiocarbon Dates for Pleistocene Fauna from the American Northeast
Boulanger, M. T., Lattanzi, G. D., Parris, D. C., O’Brien, M. J., & Lyman, R. L. (2015) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.2458/azu_rc.57.18220 · Cited by 3

Flagged first, then by citations

4 of the 57 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 14

Agassiz L. A., 1850, On the fossil remains of an elephant found in Vermont, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2, 100
Aldrich L. C., 1891, History of Windsor County Vermont with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, 1005
Baillie M., 1991, Suck‐in and smear: two related chronological problems for the 90s, Journal of Theoretical Archaeology, 2, 12
10.2458/azu_js_rc.v54i2.16009 · DOI
Fiedel S., 2019, A new AMS radiocarbon date for the Ivory Pond mastodon, Eastern Paleontologist, 3, 1
Fisher D. C., 1995, Experiments on subaqueous meat caching, Current Research in the Pleistocene, 12, 77
Gauthier B., 2018, The Mount Holly mammoth, history since discovery, Vermont Geological Survey Educational Leaflet, 3, 1
Gramly R. M., 2017, The Archaeological Recovery of the Bowser Road Mastodon, Orange County, New York, 364
Hager A. D.1865:The tusk of an elephant found in Brattleboro.The Manchester Journal 5 p. 3. Manchester Vermont.
Haynes G.1991:Mammoths Mastodonts and Elephants: Biology Behavior and the Fossil Record.430pp.Cambridge University Press Cambridge.
Howe J. L., 2014, How do you get a Whale in Vermont, 170
Koch P. L., 1991, The isotopic ecology of Pleistocene proboscideans, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 11, 40A
Oldale R. N., 1987, Elephant teeth from the western Gulf of Maine and their implications, National Geographic Research, 3, 339
Spiess A. E., 1998, Paleoindian occupation in the New England‐Maritimes region: beyond cultural ecology, Archaeology of Eastern North America, 26, 201

Sorted by citations

Facing the Forest: Climate Change and Human Adaptation Across the Pleistocene–Holocene Transition in Northern New England and Eastern Canada
Kitchel, N. R. (2024) · PaleoAmerica · doi:10.1080/20555563.2024.2414630 · Cited by 2
Self-citation
Age, stable isotopes, and redescription of the first mammoth tooth from the Labrador Peninsula
Bateman, L.-P., & Larsson, H. C. E. (2025) · Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences · doi:10.1139/cjes-2024-0142

“Man and the Mastodon”: Revisiting the Northborough Mastodon
Feranec, R. S., Christiansen, M. S., Driver, D. “., & Fiedel, S. J. (2021)
New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA
Feranec, R. S., & Kozlowski, A. (2012) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s003382220004697x · Cited by 12
Radiocarbon chronology of the mammoth site at Niederweningen, Switzerland: Results from dating bones, teeth, wood, and peat
Hajdas, I., Bonani, G., Furrer, H., Mäder, A., & Schoch, W. H. (2006) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2006.10.007 · Cited by 59
Radiocarbon Ages of Mammoths in Northern Eurasia: Implications for Population Development and Late Quaternary Environment
Vasil'chuk, Y. K., Punning, J., & Vasil'chuk, A. C. (1997) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200040856 · Cited by 48
The first radiocarbon data of bone remains of mammoth faunal forms in northwestern Russia
Никонов, А. А., & van der Plicht, J. (2010) · Doklady Earth Sciences · doi:10.1134/s1028334x10050168

Authors: Kitchel, N. R., & Desilva, J. M.
Affiliations: Dartmouth College (US)
Corresponding author: Kitchel, Nathaniel R.
ORCID: Kitchel, Nathaniel R.
Desilva, Jeremy M.
Venue: Boreas
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2021-03-04
Volume: 50
Issue: 3
Pages: 862-870
ISSN: 0300-9483 (ISSN-L)
1502-3885
DOI: 10.1111/bor.12517
OpenAlex: W3135323865
Cited by: 2
References: 57
Citations by year: 2025: 1 · 2024: 1
FWCI: 0.59
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations: Boreas (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Keywords: mammoth, Proboscidea, Mastodon, radiocarbon dating, carbon isotopes, nitrogen isotopes, Younger Dryas, Last Glacial Maximum, human settlement, New England, Vermont

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

First AMS radiocarbon date and stable C:N isotope analysis for the Mount Holly Mammoth, Vermont, USA

Abstract

Overview

Integrity signals

Verification

Claims the paper makes

Citations

Cites

Cited by

Related

Metadata

Record

About these checks