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Excavating a Mammoth Hunters’ Campsite

Since 2014, a team of archaeologists investigating a 13,000-year-old hunting campsite at La Prele Creek, Wyoming, have uncovered an area larger than a football field. These images taken by Matt Stirn at the excavations during the summer of 2022 explore one of the most significant sites where people belonging to what archaeologists now call the Clovis Culture spent an extended period of time.

  • An aerial view of the La Prele excavations shows a white tent covering the area actively under investigation.
  • Archaeologists digging inside the excavation tent at the La Prele site work in close quarters.
  • A fragment of mammoth ivory is excavated by an archaeologist. The distribution of mammoth ivory across the site suggests inhabitants had equal access to this important resource.
  • Two pieces of a single cutting tool known as a biface were found at La Prele. The color difference between the fragments is the result of one half of the tool being discarded into or near a hearth, which heated the stone and altered its hue.

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