A Mammoth Fraud in Science

Bibliographic Data

ID2575453
AuthorsJames B Griffin (University of Michigan, corresponding author), D J Meltzer (0000-0001-8084-9802, Southern Methodist University), B D Smith (0000-0002-1643-2997, National Museum of Natural History), William C Sturtevant (National Museum of Natural History)
Year1988
Volume53
Issue3
Pages578-582
Publication date1988-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/281218
OpenAlexW2326688101
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited12

The Holly Oak pendant is a shaped piece of marine whelk (Busycon sinistrum) shell with two holes drilled in one end that bears an incised depiction of an extinct proboscidean (woolly mammoth or mastodon). It allegedly was recovered in 1864 from an archaeological site in Delaware. There was speculation in the 1970s as to its age and significance, and it was illustrated and cited as a Paleoindian artifact of Pleistocene age. Subsequent analyses indicated the artifact was fraudulent: The engraving probably was done in the 1880s on a shell recovered from an archaeological site. This has been confirmed by a recently obtained AMS radiocarbon date. The Holly Oak pendant is a modern forgery

Archaeology · Artifact (error · Biology · Debitage · Geography · Mammoth · Pleistocene · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Geology · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology