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Philippsen B. Dating the arrival of humans in the Americas. Science 2023; 382:36-37. [PMID: 37797034 DOI: 10.1126/science.adk3075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
A debate about the age of ancient footprints continues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bente Philippsen
- National Laboratory for Age Determination, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
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Pigati JS, Springer KB, Honke JS, Wahl D, Champagne MR, Zimmerman SRH, Gray HJ, Santucci VL, Odess D, Bustos D, Bennett MR. Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands. Science 2023; 382:73-75. [PMID: 37797035 DOI: 10.1126/science.adh5007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the same stratigraphic horizons as those of the Ruppia seeds, along with optically stimulated luminescence ages of sediments from within the human footprint-bearing sequence, to evaluate the veracity of the seed ages. The results show that the chronologic framework originally established for the White Sands footprints is robust and reaffirm that humans were present in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey S Pigati
- US Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey S Honke
- US Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA
| | - David Wahl
- US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
- Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | | | - Susan R H Zimmerman
- Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
| | - Harrison J Gray
- US Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA
| | - Vincent L Santucci
- National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, Washington, DC 20240, USA
| | - Daniel Odess
- National Park Service, Cultural Resources Directorate, Washington, DC 20240, USA
| | - David Bustos
- National Park Service, White Sands National Park, Holloman Air Force Base, NM 88330, USA
| | - Matthew R Bennett
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
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