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<p>Mammoths (<em>Mammuthus</em>) have been studied extensively at the genetic level. However due to both taphonomic and technological limitations, only one of several late Pleistocene mammoth species, the woolly mammoth (<em>M. primigenius</em>), has been investigated. This limits our impression of mammoth population history to the the northern latitudes, just one of several environments in which mammoths lived and went extinct. It also obscures their evolutionary chronology, which prevents proper climatic and biogeographic contextualization of their history. Fortunately recent technological advances in high-throughput sequencing and targeted enrichment promise to expand Pleistocene faunal population phylogeography to non-permafrost, non-cave burial contexts. However the capacity and behavior of these combined technologies for characterizing ancient DNA is largely unexplored, preventing efficient and routine use for population-level studies. In this thesis I test and apply these technologies to remains of mammoth species from throughout North America. I first demonstrate their potential for poorly-preserved DNA, and then I evaluate their efficient application to large sample sets, as well as for capturing complete nuclear genomes. I then use these technologies to sequence dozens of mitochondrial genomes from Columbian (<em>M. columbi</em>)<em> </em>and other non-woolly mammoths, reconstructing their matrilineal phylogeography south of the ice. The revealed patterns not only imply a deep chronology for mammoth matrilineal diversity, but also that North American mammoth evolution was occurred via separate episodes of interbreeding between resident and invading populations, and between ecotypes. Overall the biological and methodological discoveries afforded by this body of work outline future research avenues on mammoth evolution, behavior, and extinction.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study is an investigation of the timing of extinction of late Pleistocene, large bodied mammalian herbivores (megafauna) and of the environment in which they lived. The demise of the megafauna near the end of the Pleistocene remains unexplained. Owing to potential human involvement in the extinctions, archaeologists have been particularly concerned to understand the causes for faunal losses. Our current lack of understanding of the timing and the causes of the extinctions in North America may result from a deficiency in understanding the histories of each individual species of extinct animal on a local level. Detailed regional chronologies of fauna are necessary for comparison with paleoenvironmental and archaeological data to help sort out causes for extinction. The Willamette Valley of western Oregon has long been noted for finds of megafauna, though records have not been synthesized since the early 20th century and these materials have remained largely unstudied. In this thesis, I first create a catalog of extinct megafauna recovered from the Willamette Valley. Next, using material from the northern valley, I employ AMS radiocarbon dating, stable isotope δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analyses, and gross inferences based on the dietary specializations and habitat preferences of taxa in order to reconstruct environments and to develop a local chronology of events that is then arrayed against archaeological and paleoenvironmental data. The results of this study indicate that megafaunal populations in the northern Willamette Valley were contemporaneous with the earliest known human populations of the Pacific Northwest, as well as later populations associated with the Clovis Paleoindian Horizon. Consistent with the overkill hypothesis, radiocarbon ages span the length of the Clovis window, but no ages are younger than Clovis. Moreover, all radiocarbon ages are older than or contemporaneous to the onset of the Younger Dryas Stadial. No age ranges fall exclusively within the Younger Dryas. Comparison of megafaunal ages and paleoenvironmental records support the view that climate change contributed to local animal population declines. Prior to ~13,000 cal BP, the Willamette Valley was an open environment; herbivores mainly consumed C₃ vegetation. The timing of the loss of megafauna coincides with increased forested conditions as indicated by regional paleoenvironmental reconstruction. As the timing of megafaunal decline correlates with Clovis, the onset of the Younger Dryas, and increased forested conditions, it is not possible with the data currently available to distinguish the cause of extinction in the Willamette Valley. The age ranges of the fauna coupled with taphonomic and geologic context indicate that the fauna are autochthonous to the Willamette Valley; they do not represent ice rafted carcasses or isolated skeletal elements transported from elsewhere during late Pleistocene glacial outburst floods.

99 Summary The topic of this Diploma thesis focuses on Fictionalization of History in History Teaching. This area is closely connected with Eduard Štorch. Eduard Štorch was an amateur archaeologist, a very good writer and an undervalued teacher. Based on topics which he drew from a variety of archaeological research projects he created and wrote adventure stories which can be classified as somewhere between fiction and popular science stories in which he described oldest periods of Czech history. His books are still recognised today as the very best of their kind and they have been translated into a number of foreign languages. As a teacher, Štorch did his utmost to improve children's education. At his own expense and almost single-handedly he built a "Children's Farm" on Libeňský ostrov in Prague. It was meant as a place for educating children not only inside a classroom but also in the middle of nature. Children from other schools in Prague were encouraged to use the outdoors facilities there in their free time as well. Eduard Štorch tried to promote and enforce changes in the teaching of all school subjects but concentrated on the teaching of history. For this purpose he published several books such as "The Reform of the History Taught at Schools" (Reforma školního dějepisu; 1905), "The New History"...