Long-debated age of ancient human tracks at White Sands, NM confirmed

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)—New research* confirms the hotly contested age of fossilized human tracks found in White Sands National Park, New Mexico. Stratigraphic records corroborate that the footprints range from 21,000 to 23,000 years old, dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), when a lake and wetlands were present at the site. In 2021, scientists dated fossilized human footprints and trackways found at White Sands to 23,000 years ago. However, the discovery caused controversy because it challenged existing theories of how people first populated North America, suggesting that people migrated before the LGM’s ice blocked the continent from Asia. Researchers argued whether the techniques used – radiocarbon dating of seeds and pollen – had produced accurate and reliable results. Subsequent work in 2023 corroborated the earlier results, but questions lingered. Now, Vance Holliday and colleagues provide even more evidence confirming the age of these human tracks. They independently radiocarbon-dated a variety of materials at new sites associated with the paleo-lake Otero, yielding a newly measured and dated stratigraphy that closely matches the findings of previous work. Notably, these wetland radiocarbon dates came from labs unaffiliated with the original 2021 study, placing humans at the site squarely in the LGM and supporting an early human presence in North America.

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The exposure at Gypsum Overlook near the White Sands dunes. The red-brown lenses in the foreground are stream deposits dating ~22,000 years old. They can be traced directly to the stream layers ~1 mile (~1.6 km) away with human footprints of the same age. Above the red-brown layers up to the skyline are thin layers of olive-gray lake clays spanning ~22,000 to ~17,000 years old and representing ancient Lake Otero.  Photo by Vance Holliday

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Article Source: AAAS news release