Megafauna-human interaction in central Mexico 35,000 years ago? Late Pleistocene bones and artifacts from Cedral, San Luis Potosí

在过去15年中，KYR墨西哥生态系统受到快速气候波动的影响，导致生物多样性格局在空间和时间上发生变化。在墨西哥中北部，这对马德雷山脉和西方山脉的南北走向都有影响。它们之间的平原允许生物群从北向南迁徙。相比之下，东西走向的横贯墨西哥的火山带阻碍了北美和南美洲之间的生物交流。Sierras山脉之间的化石沉积物非常适合分析生物多样性、环境和气候的波动。墨西哥也有着悠久的人口历史，这一点早在大约13,000基尔就得到了证明。2019年9月，与墨西哥中部圣路易斯波托西Villa de la Paz的Santa Maria银矿的一名员工接触后，他们举行了一次科学周末会议，并对塞德拉尔镇的Amapola牧场进行了一天的实地考察。当地露头充满了晚更新世的化石，证明了一种不同寻常的生物多样性。化石木材和木炭巢被解释为壁炉，与文物有关，可以追溯到大约35,000年前。在过去的十年里，圣路易斯波托西大学的一个考古工作组对塞德拉尔的地点进行了跨学科的调查。上周末在拉巴斯别墅举行的会议上，UASLP发现，他们的大多数结果都基于可疑的方法，而且国家机构提供的年代测定从未得到证实，也从未对骨骼样本进行年代测定。拟议的项目是基于对一个极具化石的坑进行的两次试探性挖掘，该坑尚未进行调查。根据这些关于生物多样性、地质年代和环境指标的发掘结果，我们将能够得出关于塞德拉尔地区更新世-全新世界线上的动物和环境变化的结论，并将这些数据与其他同时代地区的数据进行比较。我们还将在骨骼中寻找划痕，并在环境变化和人类定居的背景下讨论巨型动物的大规模灭绝。此外，我们还获得了包含17,000多件标本的文物收藏，其中包括介于索卢特里亚和克洛维斯风格之间的大型无槽刀片。这些叶片的确切来源是已知的，应该对其进行沉积物采样。特别令人感兴趣的是在阿马波拉发现的文物与收藏品中的材料之间的相关性。我们知道，这里要求的资金只会让我们为未来更大的德国-墨西哥联合项目建立新的环境。

During the past 15 kyr Mexican ecosystems were subject to rapid climate fluctuations resulting in spatially and temporally changing biodiversity patterns. In North-Central Mexico, this is influenced to the north-south orientation of both the Sierra Madre Oriental and Occidental mountain ranges. The plains between them allowed for a north-south migration of biota. In contrast the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt running in an East-West direction hindered the biotic interchange between North and South America. The fossiliferous sediments between the Sierras are perfect for analyzing fluctuations of biodiversity, environment and climate. Mexico also has a long history of peopling that is proved as early as ca. 13,000 kyr.In September 2019, a contact with an employee of the Santa Maria Silver Mine in Villa de la Paz, San Luis Potosí, Central Mexico, resulted in a scientific weekend meeting combined with a one day field trip to the Amapola Ranch at the town of Cedral. The local outcrops are full of fossils of Late Pleistocene age and prove an unusual biodiversity. Fossil wood and charcoal nests interpreted as hearths, associated with artifacts, were dated to about 35,000 years bp.During the past decade, an interdisciplinary investigation of localities at Cedral has been carried out by an archaeology work group of the University of San Luis Potosí. During the weekend meeting in Villa de La Paz, the UASLP it turned out that most of their results are based on doubtful methods and that the dating produced by a state institution has never been confirmed nor have bone samples been dated. The proposed project is based on scientific two pilot excavations in an extremely fossiliferous pit that has not been investigated. Based on the results of these excavations with respect to biodiversity, geological age and environmental proxies we will be able to draw conclusions on the faunal and environmental changes across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in the Cedral region and compare these data with those of other coeval localities. We will also search the bones for scratch marks and discuss the mass extinction of megafauna in the context of environmental changes and humans settlement. Additionally we have access to an artifact collection containing more than 17,000 specimens, amongst them large un-fluted blades intermediate between Solutrean and Clovis style. The exact provenance of these blades is known and should be sediment sampled. Of special interest is the correlation between the artifacts found at Amapola and the material in the collection.We are aware that the funding requested here will only allow us to establish new environmental for a future larger German-Mexican joined project.