Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum

Matthew R. Bennett; David Bustos; Jeffrey S. Pigati; Kathleen B. Springer; Thomas. M. Urban; Vance T. Holliday; Sally C. Reynolds; Marcin Budka; Jeffrey S. Honke; Adam M. Hudson; Brendan Fenerty; Clare Connelly; Patrick J. Martinez; Vincent L. Santucci; Daniel Odess

doi:10.1126/science.abg7586

Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum

Science

By: Matthew R. Bennett, David Bustos, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Thomas. M. Urban, Vance T. Holliday, Sally C. Reynolds, Marcin Budka, Jeffrey S. Honke, Adam M. Hudson, Brendan Fenerty, Clare Connelly, Patrick J. Martinez, Vincent L. Santucci, and Daniel Odess

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg7586

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Abstract

Archaeologists and researchers in allied fields have long sought to understand human colonization of North America. When, how, and from where did people migrate, and what were the consequences of their arrival for the established fauna and landscape are enduring questions. Here, we present evidence from excavated surfaces of in situ human footprints from White Sands National Park (New Mexico, USA), where multiple human footprints are stratigraphically constrained and bracketed by seed layers that yield calibrated ages between ~23 and 21 ka. These findings confirm the presence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, adding evidence to the antiquity of human colonization of the Americas, and provide a temporal range extension for the co-existence of early inhabitants and Pleistocene megafauna.

Suggested Citation

Bennett, M.R., Bustos, D., Pigati, J.S., Springer, K.B., Urban, T.M., Holliday, V.T., Reynolds, S.C., Budka, M., Honke, J.S., Hudson, A.M., Fenerty, B., Connelly, C., Martinez, P., Santucci, V.L., Odess, D., 2021, Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum: Science, p. 1528-1531, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg7586.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum
Series title	Science
DOI	10.1126/science.abg7586
Year Published	2021
Language	English
Contributing office(s)	Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Description	4 p.
First page	1528
Last page	1531
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
Other Geospatial	White Sands National Park