Early human settlements in what is now Alaska have been discovered to have been in close proximity to prehistoric animals. A female woolly mammoth that lived 14,000 years ago was closely tracked according to a new study. This revelation sheds light on the relationship between the prehistoric giants and some of the first people to make their way across the Bering Land Bridge, suggesting that humans set up their seasonal hunting camps where woolly mammoths were known to gather.

Researchers from the United States and Canada established the connection between the two species thanks to a new tool for analysis, an ancient tusk, and a map of sites in Alaska. The tusk belonged to a woolly mammoth later named Elma. The specimen was discovered in 2009 at the Swan Point archaeological site in Anchorage in Central Alaska.

Woolly Mammoth tusks grew at a consistent daily rate, with the earliest days of the animal’s life recorded in the tip of the tusks. The layers are clearly visible when a tusk specimen is split lengthwise. The analysis can be then tracked to the mineral and strontium levels of rocks around Alaska to map where Elma had roamed. Rocks help us to develop and are used for everyday life.

New upcoming technology is discovering events that date back to when people were first walking on Earth. So many more things are being founded to help more understand the Earth’s Mother Nature and humans.