Explaining the Mammoth Economy, Smokehouses, and the Mezhyrich Map

This study explores a body of evidence regarding the hunting and meat processing of Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth) in Eastern European river basins before, during, and after the Last Glacial Maximum. Evidence of mammoth mass and weight, river site selection, and the presence of all mammoth skeletal parts in technocomplexes provides a foundation for the arguments. The proposed mammoth economy encompasses five phases: procurement in rivers, river transportation (riverine transport hypothesis), butchery, food preservation through coldsmoking (smokehouse hypothesis), and meat storage. Mammoth-bone circles including large ovals and elongated structures are the remains of smokehouses for cold-smoking. Ubiquitous burnt bones represent fire fuel that slowed the speed of combustion for cold-smoking purposes. The Mezhyrich Map, which is perhaps the oldest process chart in the world, confirms the key sequences of docking the mammoth carcass, initial butchery, cold-smoking, and storage. Artifacts and site maps supporting the smokehouse hypothesis include charcoal, micro-lithics, ash, burnt and calcinated bones, floor dimensions consistent with quantities of meat, construction using large mammoth bones, rows of aligned flat hearths, and the absence of formal entranceways. The evidence and inferences in this study, backed by the process of elimination, provide the best explanations for the successful mammoth economy, smokehouses, and the Mezhyrich Map. This study explains how all parts of the mammoth carcass made their way to mammoth-bone circles settlements.