Recent study supports dates of early human footprints at White Sands National Park
WHITE SANDS, N.M. (KRQE) – What if humans left their first mark on the Americas earlier than we think? An anthropologist said footprints uncovered here in the Land of Enchantment tell a new story.
It's one of the world's great natural wonders. At White Sands National Park, tiny gypsum grains sparkle as they reflect the sun. But under the surface, you'll find human history etched below.
'It now gives us a bigger picture, a better picture of what was going on out there,' said Vance Holliday, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Geosciences at the University of Arizona.
Fossilized human footprints discovered at the park in 2021 led archaeologists to believe humans were in North America before the end of the ice age, roughly 23,000 years ago. That's 10,000 years before remains at a site near Clovis, New Mexico were dated.
These productions were filmed at White Sands. Have you seen them?
Some scientists pushed for more research to confirm the findings, arguing the dates could give ages that are too old because of aquatic material. But a new study by Professor Vance Holliday joins others in supporting the prehistoric case.
'We've got a total of about 55 dates on three different materials run by three different labs, and everything matches up,' said Holliday.
Holliday said the evidence is clear: 'I just don't see any other explanation.'
What gives the sand at White Sands National Park its color?
The discovery completely reshapes what anthropologists believe about how and when North America was populated by early humans. 'The age of the tracks is when North America was blocked off from Asia by glacial ice sheets,' said Holliday.
Professor Holliday emphasizes the value of looking at the tracks as he recounted his first day at the park in 2012, coming face to face with mammoth, sloth, camel, and dire wolf tracks. 'They're all over the place. It is amazing. And that alone is this incredible resource,' said Holliday.
So, what once held prehistoric streams, wetlands, and lakes now holds the secrets of the past, as man traveled across North America. Professor Holliday said part of the history we won't be able to find out because of wind erosion.
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