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Painting

Painting

Figure 5, This scene is based upon the excavations at the Coats-Hines site in Williamson County, Tennessee, where two mastodon […]

Figure 5, This scene is based upon the excavations at the Coats-Hines site in Williamson County, Tennessee, where two mastodon skeletons were found. Close examination of the bones showed that one showed clear cut marks – evidence of the association of humans with this now extinct Ice Age elephant. In the foreground, men are repairing and remounting stone spearpoints onto foreshafts that tip spears used in hunting. In the background, a mastodon is being butchered in the marshy area where perhaps it had been trapped. The meat is being processed for both consumption and drying for future use.

Painting by Greg Harlin. © McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.