The tooth marks on a 1,000 year old corn cob got me thinking

I was reading about a dig in Chaco Canyon and saw a photo of an ancient cob with gnaw marks that matched packrat teeth, not human. That made me realize so many 'leftovers' we find might be animal stash homes, not trash pits. Anyone else run into a photo or report that flipped how you read a site's daily life?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyg6020d ago

Well, that really does make you stop and think! It reminds me of how we find half-eaten sandwiches or apple cores in our own backyards and just assume they're from the kids, when really the squirrels and crows got to them first. I guess we have a habit of looking at the leftovers and picking the simplest story, when the truth is usually messier. Once you see one example of animal teeth on something, you start second-guessing every other find and wonder what else we've gotten wrong. It's a good lesson about not trusting the first thing that comes to mind, whether it's about old corn or something in your own fridge.

taraanderson20d ago

Nah, sometimes the simple answer really is the right one.