14,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth's Life Journey Unveiled Through Tusk Analysis

Study suggests early human settlements in Alaska were influenced by mammoth movements, shedding light on prehistoric human-mammoth interactions.

Researchers have pieced together the life journey of a 20-year-old female woolly mammoth named Élmayuujey’eh, who lived more than 14,000 years ago, providing new insights into mammoth behavior and human-mammoth interactions.
Through genetic and isotopic analyses of Élmayuujey’eh's tusk, scientists determined that she travelled approximately 1,000 km in three years, from southeastern Beringia near the Cordilleran ice sheet to Swan Point, Alaska.
Élmayuujey’eh's tusk revealed that she spent her early years in a relatively small area, ventured further afield during her middle years, and slowed down in her twilight years, frequently returning to interior Alaska.
Researchers believe Élmayuujey’eh may have been the matriarch of her herd, and her premature death at a seasonal hunting camp suggests she was likely hunted by humans.
The study also suggests that early human settlements in Alaska were established based on mammoth movements, indicating a close relationship between the prehistoric giants and some of the first people to make their way across the Bering Land Bridge.