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ABSTRACT
The Perspective editorial by Braje, T., T. D. Dillehay, J. M. Erlandson, S. M. Fitzpatrick, D. K. Grayson, V. T. Holliday, R. L. Kelly, R. G. Klein, D. J. Meltzer, and T. C. Rick (2017. “Were Hominins in California ∼130,000 Years Ago?” PaleoAmerica 3 (3): 200–202) takes issue with our argument [Holen, S. R., T. A. Deméré, D. C. Fisher, R. Fullagar, J. B. Paces, G. T. Jefferson, J. M. Beeton, et al. (2017. “A 130,000-Year-Old Archaeological Site in Southern California, USA.” Nature 544 (7651): 479–483) that the assemblage of bones and stones at the Cerutti Mastodon (CM) site implicates hominin activity in site formation 130,000 years ago. Braje et al. propose instead that features of the CM site can be better explained by geological or other causes unrelated to ancient human activity. However, we contend that their conclusion reflects an incomplete assessment of our evidence. They further propose a standard of evidence at odds with current practice in the philosophy of science, and misuse a commonly quoted aphorism that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Steven R. Holen is the Director of Research at the Center for American Paleolithic Research and a Research Associate with the San Diego Natural History Museum. His research area is the dispersal of humans into the Americas. He has 45 years of archaeological experience in the Great Plains including 30 years of excavating and researching mammoth and mastodon sites, several of which exhibit human modification of limb bone.
Thomas A. Deméré is the Joshua L. Baily, Jr. Curator of Paleontology and Director of PaleoServices at the San Diego Natural History Museum. His research interests include the anatomy and evolutionary history of marine mammals, the taphonomy of Cenozoic fossil assemblages, and the Pleistocene paleontology and geology of southern California.
Daniel C. Fisher is the Director of the Museum of Paleontology and the Claude W. Hibbard Collegiate Professor of Paleontology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. His current research addresses the paleobiology, taphonomy, and extinction of Pleistocene proboscideans, especially those of North America and the Siberian Arctic.
Richard Fullagar is a Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Australia. He has worked extensively in the Australia-PNG-Southeast Asia region, and studied the function of stone tools from many archaeological, ethnographic, and experimental contexts. He also developed methods of use-wear and residue analysis to study grinding/pounding stones – primarily to investigate early and later human use of particular plants, foods, bones, stone, and other resources.
James B. Paces is a Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Isotope Research Laboratory in Denver, Colorado. He has more than 25 years of experience measuring radiogenic isotopes of uranium and thorium in a wide variety of materials and specializes in their application to Quaternary geochronology using uranium-series disequilibrium methods.
George T. Jefferson is the retired California Associate State Archaeologist and Paleontologist Emeritus with the Stout Research Center, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California. His research interests have centered on Plio-Pleistocene vertebrate paleofaunas and taphonomy of the American southwest. He was head curator of the Rancho La Brea collections, and directed the paleontology program for California State Parks.
Jared M. Beeton is a Professor of Earth Science at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. He studies soils and fluvial geomorphology with a focus on the effects of temporal and spatial patterns of landscape evolution on the preservation and visibility of the archaeological record.
Adam N. Rountrey is the Collection Manager for Fossil Vertebrates at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. His research interests include proboscidean paleobiology and three-dimensional data acquisition, curation, and dissemination.
Kathleen A. Holen is founder and Administrative Director of the Center for American Paleolithic Research. Her research interests include non-lithic evidence of human agency at proboscidean sites, expedient tool use, cognitive archaeology, and dog domestication. She currently studies prey animal bone modification.