On the left are modern human footprints, and on the right are human footprints from about 23,000 years ago. Image source: Sea Australia "Dialogue" magazine related report
According to a paper recently published in the journal Science, the fossil footprints discovered by researchers in White Sand National Park in New Mexico provide clear evidence of the earliest time of human activity in the Americas, confirming that humans set foot on the North American continent about 23,000 years ago, earlier than previously thought.
In 2009, these footprints were first identified on dry lake beds. Recently, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey have dated these footprints using radiocarbon dating of the seed layers above and below them. The "age" of these footprints dates back about 23,000 years — comparable to the last glacial peak, making them the oldest known human footprints in the Americas.
Previously, the view was that humans began to migrate out of Africa about 100,000 years ago. In addition to Antarctica, the Americas were the last continents humans arrived. About 16,500 years ago, the North American ice sheet melted, and early pioneers opened up migration routes to reach the Americas across the now submerged Bering Land Bridge, which once connected Eastern Siberia and North America.
To investigate the site, the research team employed non-invasive geophysical techniques. "Non-destructive technology detection and imaging greatly expands our ability to study these extraordinary footprints in a broader context." Thomas Urban, the scientist who led the study, said, "Now that we have a unique window into Pleistocene life in North America, this new study provides the first conclusive evidence that humans persisted in the Americas thousands of years earlier than most archaeologists believe." ”
We tend to imagine that human ancestors were always in a brutal struggle for survival. However, the researchers say the footprints hint at a relatively relaxed, fun environment at the time. Judging by their size, footprints are mainly left by teenagers and young children, and occasionally adults. They are more energetic and playful, so they leave more footprints. Of course, there is another explanation that these footprints are left by teenagers for their parents to go out hunting.
In addition, the footprints of animals such as mammoths, giant sloths, wolves and birds also appear here.
In any case, the people who left their footprints in White Sands National Park were among the earliest known North American teenagers. The researchers say the evidence clearly suggests that humans existed in southern North America before the ice peak of the last glacial period. (Intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin)
Source: Science and Technology Daily