Oldest human footprints in North America found in New Mexico

WASHINGTON — Fossilized footprints discovered successful New Mexico bespeak that aboriginal humans were walking crossed North America astir 23,000 years ago, researchers reported Thursday.

The archetypal footprints were recovered successful a adust water furniture successful White Sands National Park successful 2009. Scientists astatine the U.S. Geological Survey precocious analyzed seeds stuck successful the footprints to find their approximate age, ranging from astir 22,800 and 21,130 years ago.

The findings whitethorn shed airy connected a enigma that has agelong intrigued scientists: When did radical archetypal get successful the Americas, aft dispersing from Africa and Asia?

Most scientists judge past migration came by mode of a now-submerged onshore span that connected Asia to Alaska. Based connected assorted grounds — including chromatic tools, fossil bones and familial investigation — different researchers person offered a scope of imaginable dates for quality accomplishment successful the Americas, from 13,000 to 26,000 years agone oregon more.

The existent survey provides a much coagulated baseline for erstwhile humans decidedly were successful North America, though they could person arrived adjacent earlier, the authors say. Fossil footprints are much indisputable and nonstop grounds than “cultural artifacts, modified bones, oregon different much accepted fossils,” they wrote successful the diary Science, which published the survey Thursday.

“What we contiguous present is grounds of a steadfast clip and location,” they said.

Based connected the size of the footprints, researchers judge that astatine slightest immoderate were made by children and teenagers who lived during the past crystal age.

David Bustos, the park’s assets programme manager, spotted the archetypal footprints successful past wetlands successful 2009. He and others recovered much successful the parkland implicit the years.

“We knew they were old, but we had nary mode to day the prints earlier we discovered immoderate with (seeds) connected top,” helium said Thursday.

Made of good silt and clay, the footprints are fragile, truthful the researchers had to enactment rapidly to stitchery samples, Bustos said.

“The lone mode we tin prevention them is to grounds them — to instrumentality a batch of photos and marque 3D models,” helium said.

Earlier excavations successful White Sands National Park person uncovered fossilized tracks near by a saber-toothed cat, dire wolf, Columbian mammoth and different crystal property animals.