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Scientists reported on a new discovery in the United States of America on Thursday that are human footprints left in the ground, which were found in White Sands National Park in the state of New Mexico. .
The history of these feet dates back to about 23,000 years, that is to say to the Ice Age, according to the American newspaper “New York Times”, and if these results are examined, they “will renew the scientific debate on how humans first spread. across the Americas, ”according to the newspaper.
For decades, many archaeologists have claimed that humans did not spread to North and South America until the end of the Ice Age, finding tools dating back around 13,000 years.
The footprints were first discovered in 2009 by David Bustos, director of the park’s resource program, at the bottom of a dry lake, and over the years he has enlisted an international team of scientists to help understand the findings. thousands of human footprints on 80,000 acres of amusement park.
Scientists dug a trench near the collection of human and animal footprints, to get a more accurate estimate of their age, and on the side of the trench they can see layers of sediment and trace the footprints.
Researchers have reported that the fossilized footprints found indicate that the first humans crossed North America about 23,000 years ago. Scientists from the US Geological Survey recently analyzed seeds stuck in footprints to determine their approximate age, which ranges from around 22,800 to 21,130 years.
The findings could shed light on a mystery that has long puzzled scientists: When did people first reach the Americas, according to the Associated Press.
Most researchers believe the ancient migration came via a now submerged land bridge connecting Asia to Alaska. Based on various evidence, including stone tools, fossil bones, and genetic analyzes, other researchers have provided a range of possible dates for humans’ arrival in the Americas, 13,000 to 13,000 years ago. 26,000 years or more.
The current study provides a more solid foundation for when humans arrived in North America, even though they could have arrived earlier, according to the authors.
Writing in the journal Science, which published the study, the researchers wrote that the fossil footprints are more direct and indisputable evidence than “cultural artifacts, modified bones, or other traditional fossils.” “What we are presenting here is proof of a firm time and place,” they said.
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