On September 23rd 2021, researchers at th U S Geological Survey, announced that they had discovered human foot prints that date back to 23,000 years. The prints, which were fossilized, were found in 2009, in White Sands Park, in New Mexico. The scientists believe that the foot prints were made by several individuals, most likely teenagers and children. A date for the find was made possible by testing some seeds that were found on top of some of the foot prints.
Most researchers had believed that humans had first come to North America via a land bridge that once connected Asia to Alaska, 13 to 15,000 years ago. This discovery, which was published in the Journal Science, provides a timeline for the arrival of humans in North America that took place before the end of the last ice age. Foot prints of animals initerspersed with the human footprints suggest to the scientists that the ancient humans may have lived in the area of the find for some 2,000 years.
