Ancient Mystery Unearthed: The Americas’ Oldest Human Footprint Challenges History Books
Karen Moreno/PLOS OneEvery row corresponds to a trackmaker, while every column corresponds to the dry, wet, and saturated water content of the sediment, respectively.
Across nine experiments, Moreno established what kind of weight would have produced this particular print in the types of sediments it was rooted in.
In the end, she found that the kind of pressure that would’ve produced this right footprint would’ve belonged to an adult, barefoot man of 155 pounds.
Added to that is the rational claim that no animal could’ve produced such a human-looking print. Moreno also explained her hesitance to hypothesize that this shape could’ve been formed by mere happenstance.
Ultimately, the resourceful paleontologist attributed the print to Hominipes modernus — a designation reserved for prints that could either belong to modern humans or their closest relative species.
While some may remain unimpressed by Moreno’s credible claims — evidence of human activity dating 15,500 years back have, after all, been previously found in Texas — this is nevertheless the oldest human footprint ever found in South America.
After learning about the 15,600-year-old human footprint discovered in Chile, read about the discovery of a 14,000-year-old settlement in North America. Then, learn about the oldest bracelet ever found, estimated to be 40,000 years old.
Post Comment