Oldest Human Footprints In North America Date Back Over 20,000 Years

Fossilized footprints in White Sands National Park. The oldest fossilized human footprints found in North America are more than 20,000 years old, according to new research. PHOTO BY BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY/SWNS 

The oldest fossilized human footprints found in North America are more than 20,000 years old, according to new research.

Two new lines of evidence support the 21,000 to 23,000-year-old estimate of the prints made two years ago – confirming humans were present in North America when the geographic extent of the ice sheet and glacier coverage on Earth’s surface peaked, known as the Last Glacial Maximum.