New study: Ice Age humans primarily hunted female mammoths

The authors write that such risk-prone areas were less suitable for hunting itself. The Ice Age hunters preferred to ambush their prey in more manageable, safer locations — and there it was primarily the females that became prey. The study was produced with the involvement of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) and the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI).

Risk-prone terrain as explanation

According to the researchers, the study's data base is broadly constructed. In addition to European sites, evidence from Asia and North America was incorporated to offset regional coincidences. According to the authors, the correlation between terrain and the sex distribution of the bones ran across all three continents.

Marc Händel emphasizes that the results do not mean that male animals were generally avoided. Rather, the hunters aligned their selection with what was safely reachable and killable. The preference for female animals thus arises indirectly from the risk profile of the slopes and swamps.

Significance for archaeology

For archaeology, the study raises new questions: Were Ice Age communities able to assess and deliberately exploit the behavior of the animals? The researchers see indications of this in the find patterns: The bones of female animals are disproportionately located where evidence of human processing — cut marks, fracture patterns — has been found.

The site of Langmannersdorf in Lower Austria plays a special role in the discussion. According to the researchers, the mammoth bone assemblage documented there fits into the overall picture and supports the thesis. APA and other media reported on the study.