The lowest stratum in Page–Ladson dates to the late Pleistocene. It includes mastodon, mammoth, horse, ground sloth, palaeolama bones, and "straw mats" of chopped vegetation (leaves, bark, and wood) of relatively uniform length. The length of the chopped vegetation is consistent with the spacing between cusps on mastodon teeth, and the "straw mats" have been interpreted as equivalent to the layers of trampled elephant dung found around water holes in Africa. Elephant steroids have been identified in the "digesta" deposits at Page–Ladson and Latvis–Simpson (a 32,000-year-old mastodon site farther south in the Aucilla). Some of the bones from this level show apparently human-made cut marks, particularly a complete mastodon tusk. Ivory spear points (often called "foreshafts") are found more frequently in the Aucilla River than from any other sites in North America. Samples from the "straw mat" level have yielded radiocarbon dates from 13,130 +/- 200 to 11,770 +/- 90 years Before Present. The "straw mat" level is covered by a layer of mud that did not contain any bones of extinct animals. People of the early Archaic period In 1996 an Early Archaic Bolen habitation level was found. At least three hearths were identified along with various stone points, scrapers, adzes, and gouges that were found, as well as antler points used to press flakes off the stone tools. Three wooden stakes were found upright in the ground, and a cypress log that had been burned on the top side and hollowed out. Radiocarbon dating yielded dates approximately 10,000 years Before Present. The site was well preserved because it had been flooded by a rise in the river level within a hundred years after the site had been occupied. Evidence of Floridian human and mastodon coexistence Underwater archaeologists and other researchers reexamining the Page–Ladson site have shown that some Late Pleistocene human populations provisioned themselves with mastodons that were either butchered or scavenged 14,450 years ago (~14,550 cal yr B.P.) , about 2000 years before large mammal extinction. Prior to this determination, evidence of human scavenging or butchering of mastodons was deemed ambiguous. "The new discoveries at Page–Ladson show that people were living in the Gulf Coast area much earlier than believed, The stone tools and faunal remains at the site show that at 14,550 years ago, people knew how to find game, fresh water and material for making tools. These people were well-adapted to this environment. The site