Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum

Kathleen Springer and

Jeff Pigati

U.S. Geological Survey

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This talk is co-sponsored by COGS and the Archaeological Society of Central Oregon. Presentation description modified from the USGS Earth Science Matters Newsletter: The discovery of ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park and their link to abrupt climate change

A multidisciplinary team of scientists recently announced the discovery of the oldest human footprints in North America. These fossilized prints were made between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago along the shores of an ice age lake that once filled the Tularosa Basin in south-central New Mexico, in what is now White Sands National Park. This finding fundamentally changes the timeline on North American human habitation – turning back the clock of human arrival in the Americas nearly 10,000 years. In this talk, USGS research geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati will discuss this remarkable find and the circumstances that allowed these footprints to be preserved and discovered.

Science article: Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum

National Geographic article: Stunning footprints push back human arrival in Americas by thousands of years

USGS Earth Science Matters Newsletter: The discovery of ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park and their link to abrupt climate change