Data release for Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum
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 14C 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 providing a temporal range extension for the coexistence of early inhabitants and Pleistocene megafauna.
Complete Metadata
| accessLevel | public |
|---|---|
| bureauCode |
[
"010:12"
]
|
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "Pigati, Jeffrey S.",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:jpigati@usgs.gov"
}
|
| description | 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 14C 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 providing a temporal range extension for the coexistence of early inhabitants and Pleistocene megafauna. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Digital Data",
"format": "XML",
"accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P9ABZEM9",
"mediaType": "application/http",
"description": "Landing page for access to the data"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Original Metadata",
"format": "XML",
"mediaType": "text/xml",
"description": "The metadata original format",
"downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.6036950cd34eb12031174c77.xml"
}
]
|
| identifier | http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6036950cd34eb12031174c77 |
| keyword |
[
"Chihuahuan Desert",
"New Mexico",
"Paleolake Otero",
"USGS:6036950cd34eb12031174c77",
"White Sands National Park",
"footprints",
"last glacial maximum",
"radiocarbon dating"
]
|
| modified | 2024-07-10T00:00:00Z |
| publisher |
{
"name": "U.S. Geological Survey",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| spatial | -106.4500, 32.8000, -106.2000, 32.9500 |
| theme |
[
"Geospatial"
]
|
| title | Data release for Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum |
