According to foreign media reports, the footprints found in White Sand National Park in New Mexico provide the earliest definitive evidence of human activity in the Americas and provide inspiration for people to understand life more than 23,000 years ago. The footprints were formed in soft mud on the edge of a shallow lake that is now part of Alkali Flat, a large lakes area in White Sands National Park.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey determined the dates of these footprints by radiocarboning the seed layers above and below the footprints. The range of these dates is wide, with the oldest footprints dating back about 23,000 years, making them the oldest known human footprints in the Americas.
The study, published Sept. 23 in Science, was conducted by scientists from Cornell University, Bournemouth University, the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the University of Arizona. The footprints of White Sands National Park were first discovered by the park's resource manager, David Bustos.
To investigate the site, the team, led by Thomas Urban, a research scientist in the College of Arts and Sciences, pioneered non-invasive geophysical techniques with cornell tree ring laboratories.
"Detection and imaging with non-destructive techniques greatly expands our ability to study these extraordinary footprints in a wider context," Urban said. Now that we have a unique window into life during the Pleistocene period in North America, this new study provides the first definitive evidence that the continued existence of humans in the Americas predates perhaps thousands of years earlier than most archaeologists believe. ”
The researchers say the footprints tell an interesting story about what life was like at the time. Judging by their size, these footprints are mainly left by adolescents and young children, and occasionally adults. Animal footprints—mammoths, giant sloths, terrifying wolves, and birds—also exist.
"This is an important site because all the footprints we found there show human interactions with extinct animals in the landscape," said study co-author Sally Reynolds of the University of Bournemouth. "We can see humans and animals coexisting throughout the site, and by being able to accurately date these footprints, we are building a larger landscape map."
Traditional archaeology relies on the discovery of bones and tools, but is often difficult to interpret. The human footprint provides clear evidence of existence, as well as evidence of behavior. It was previously thought that humans entered the Americas nearly 16,000 years ago, after the melting of the North American ice sheet, opening up migration routes. However, these footprints suggest that humans entered the Americas much earlier.
Matthew Bennett of the University of Bournemouth, who helped lead the study, said: "The footprints left in White Sands National Park give a picture of what happened at the time, with teenagers interacting with young children and adults. We can think of our ancestors as quite pragmatic – hunting and survival – but what we see here is also gaming activity, as well as people of different ages together. This is the true understanding of these early humans. ”