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SaltWire's Atlantic regional weather forecast for October 5, 2023 | SaltWireWASHINGTON - Humans trod the landscape of North America thousands of years earlier than previously thought, according to new research that confirms the antiquity of fossilized footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico using two further dating approaches.
A 2021 study by these researchers also dated the footprints, based on tiny plant seeds embedded in the sediment alongside them, to about 21,000 to 23,000 years ago. This was met with skepticism from some scientists who questioned the dating conclusion. Homo sapiens arose in Africa more than 300,000 years ago and later spread worldwide. Scientists believe our species entered North America from Asia by trekking across a land bridge that once connected Siberia to Alaska.
The 2021 study dated the footprints using radiocarbon dating to determine the age of seeds of a common aquatic plant called spiral ditchgrass found alongside the fossilized foot impressions. This time, the researchers used radiocarbon dating on conifer pollen, avoiding any concerns about aquatic plants. They isolated thousands of conifer pollen grains from the same sediment layers as the ditchgrass seeds. The pollen age statistically matched the seed age.
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