Name: Ice Age Footprints
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Ancient footprints in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park reveal new evidence of Ice Age humans that walked the land alongside enormous ground sloths and mammoths—thousands of years earlier than archaeologists thought people were in the Americas.

Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.

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Ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park reveal that humans first arrived in North America thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

Scattered seeds help reveal when ancient humans first left footprints in North America.

Humans May Have Lived in North America Earlier Than Thought

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Ice Age Footprints

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6 footprints embedded in beige, crusty desert surface

Thousands of ancient footprints stretch for miles across New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, capturing moments when Ice Age humans encountered now-extinct beasts, including mammoths and enormous ground sloths. These footprints tell an intimate story about what life was like during the Ice Age and reveal surprising new evidence about when humans arrived in North America. (Premiered May 25, 2022)

Sant Director, National Museum of Natural History

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Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.

Evolution

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Ice Age Footprints

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Humans May Have Lived in North America Earlier Than Thought

Making North America

Dinosaur Apocalypse

Ice Age Footprints

Human tracks may be earliest evidence of people in North America

First Americans arrived at least 16,000 years ago, and probably by boat

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Explore More

Humans May Have Lived in North America Earlier Than Thought

Making North America

Dinosaur Apocalypse

Ice Age Footprints

Human tracks may be earliest evidence of people in North America

First Americans arrived at least 16,000 years ago, and probably by boat