White Sands fossil footprints
The White Sands fossil footprints are a set of fossilized human footprints discovered in 2009 in the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. In 2021 they were radiocarbon dated, based on seeds found in the sediment layers, to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. If that date range is correct, they would be the oldest record of humans in the Americas.[1][2] The 61 footprints are located at the shore of an ice age era lake in the Tularosa Basin.[3]
In 2022, skeptics noted that age estimates relied on carbon dating Ruppia cirrhosa seeds, whose parent plants can intake carbon from groundwater, thereby potentially resulting in dates thousands of years too old.[4][5] A 2023 study that included radiocarbon dating of pollen and optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz grains within the footprint layers corroborated the dates obtained from the seeds.[5][6]
References
- ^ Zimmer, Carl (September 23, 2021). "Ancient Footprints Push Back Date of Human Arrival in the Americas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ^ Gershon, Livia (September 24, 2021). "Prehistoric Footprints Push Back Timeline of Humans' Arrival in North America". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ^ "The discovery of ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park and their link to abrupt climate change". United States Geological Survey. Earth Science Matters Newsletter. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ Madsen, David B.; Davis, Loren G.; Rhode, David; Oviatt, Charles G. (2022-10-14). "Comment on "Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum"". Science. 375 (6577). American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
- ^ a b Johnson, Carolyn (October 5, 2023). "Ancient footprints upend timeline of humans' arrival in North America". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Honke, Jeffrey S.; Wahl, David; Champagne, Marie R.; Zimmerman, Susan R. H.; Gray, Harrison J.; Santucci, Vincent L.; Odess, Daniel; Bustos, David; Bennett, Matthew R. (2023). "Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands". Science. 382 (6666): 73–75.
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