News Archaeology

Human footprints in New Mexico really may be surprisingly ancient, new dating shows

The tracks suggest humans arrived in North America thousands of years earlier than was thought

A photo of human footprints in White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

Two more dating methods find that human footprints (some shown) in White Sands National Park in New Mexico are roughly 22,000 years old, aligning with a previous estimate.

National Park Service

By McKenzie Prillaman

Human footprints in White Sands National Park in New Mexico sparked controversy two years ago when scientists found the prints to be surprisingly old, dating to about 22,000 years ago.