“The footprints at White Sands were dated by examining the seeds of an aquatic plant that once thrived along the shores of the dried-up lake, Ruppia cirrhosa, commonly known as ditchgrass. According to research published Thursday in the journal Science and co-authored by Bustos, the ancient ditchgrass seeds were found in layers of hard earth both above and below the many human footprints at the site, and they were radiocarbon-dated to determine their age.
“The tracks at one location have been revealed as both the earliest known footprints and the oldest firm evidence of humans anywhere in the Americas, showing that people lived there 21,000 to 23,000 years ago — several thousand years earlier than scientists once believed.”
Link at Maggie’s Farm.
The dates keep getting pushed back. Not many years ago, archaeologists decided beyond any doubt that humans first inhabited the Americas 10,000 years ago. There could be no argument, the experts said. Other finds and other methods of dating pushed the time back to 12,000 years and then 15,000 years. Now, before the last Ice Age? That means humans had more capability at boat-building than thought, and a more developed wandering gene than experts imagined.
Congratulations,
ancient folks!
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