SOURCE 01 · Archaeological evidence

Footprints at White Sands

Date & context

The footprints were made about 21,000–23,000 years ago. Researchers dated the sediment layers around them; the photograph is modern.

Where

Present-day New Mexico

Human footprints were preserved in layers of ancient lakebed mud. Archaeologists study their shapes, paths, and surrounding sediments to learn who traveled here and when.

A fossilized human footprint at White Sands National Park.