US EditionStudy Confirms Controversial 23,000-Year-Old Human Footprints, Challenging Past Views on Peopling of the Americas
- Researchers excavated 61 ancient human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, dating them between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago.
- This finding challenges the earlier view that Clovis people, dating from about 13,000 to 16,000 years ago, were North America's first inhabitants.
- Scientists used radiocarbon dating of pollen, seeds, and recently ancient mud layers to independently confirm the footprints' age with 55 consistent dates.
- Vance Holliday expressed that it would be highly unlikely for all the dating results to align so well if they were incorrect, though he admitted that the absence of artifacts remains a challenging question for researchers.
- The study implies humans lived in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, but questions remain about why no settlements or debris fields accompany the footprints.
24 Articles
24 Articles
Ancient Footprints Show Humans Lived in North America Over 21,000 Years Ago
A new study confirms White Sands footprints are over 21,000 years old, reshaping the timeline of early human presence in North America.. Credit: US Geological Service / Public domain A new study provides solid evidence that human footprints discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico date back to over 21,000 years, reinforcing a controversial claim that people lived in North America far earlier than believed thus far. The footprints, f…
New study backs up age of ancient human footprints found at White Sands
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A new study is backing up the age of human footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico that are believed to be the oldest known in North America. In 2021, White Sands officials said they found evidence of human occupation in the Tularosa Basin beginning at least 23,000 years ago – thousands of years earlier than previously thought. They found fossilized human footprints buried in multiple layers of gypsum soil …
Channel News Asia
New research strengthens case for age of ancient New Mexico footprints
A new line of evidence is providing further corroboration of the antiquity of fossilized footprints discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico that rewrite the history of humans in the Americas.Researchers used a technique called radiocarbon dating to determine that organic matter in the remains o
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