New research shows that fossil footprints discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in New Mexico's White Sands National Park date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago.
This Oct. 2023 photo made available by the National Park Service shows Human footprints infilled with white gypsum sand. at the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Fossil human footprints discovered in White Sands, New Mexico likely date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to two lines of scientific evidence published Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
The new study presents two additional lines of evidence for the older date range. It uses two entirely different materials found at the site, ancient conifer pollen and quartz grains. Thomas Stafford, an independent archaeological geologist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was not involved in the study, said he “was a bit skeptical before” but now is convinced.
“Dating pollen is arduous and nail-biting,” said Kathleen Springer, a research geologist at the United States Geological Survey and a co-author of the new paper. Scientists believe radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plants is more accurate than dating aquatic plants, but there needs to be a large enough sample size to analyze, she said.
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Further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in AmericasNew research shows that fossil footprints discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in New Mexico's White Sands National Park date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago
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Further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in AmericasNew research shows that fossil footprints discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in New Mexico's White Sands National Park date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago.
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Further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in AmericasNew research shows that fossil footprints discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in New Mexico's White Sands National Park date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. Previously, archaeologists thought human ancestors arrived about 15,000 years ago. The research was published Thursday in the journal Science. Scientists analyzed conifer pollen and quartz grains found at the site to reach date estimates. Earlier research that analyzed seeds of aquatic plants found at the site also produced similar date estimates. Ancient humans at White Sands lived alongside giant ground sloths, bison and other megafauna.
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