8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover Ice Age human footprints in the Utah desert —may be more than 12,000 years old.

Daron Duke and Thomas Urban, a Research Scientist with Cornell University, discovered 88 preserved human footprints on alkaline plains at the Utah Test and Training Range.

The two researchers were working for the Air force this month, and the footprints they accidentally discovered are believed to be more than 12,000 years old.

Additional research is being done to confirm the discovery, but these are not the first footprints discovered in the United States. White Sands National Park in New Mexico was the first place where human footprints from the Pleistocene age were detected.

According to the most recent studies, there have been people living in the Tularosa Basin and North America for at least 23,000 years. Before, it was believed that people first came to North America closer to 13,500–16,000 years ago.

A footprint discovered on an archaeological site is marked with a pin flag on the Utah Test and Training Range, July 18, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)

On the western playa of the White Sands National Park, research was done by digging a trench in the gypsum soil to explore what may be discovered beneath the surface. Human Footprints were found within different layers of sediment below the surface of the dig site. Radiocarbon dating was used to examine the old grass seeds (Ruppia cirrhosa) that were found above and below these imprints. The calibrated dates were found to be 22,860 (320) and 21,130 (250) years ago.

Thomas Urban is part of the White Sands research team and has developed techniques for recording ancient prints with GPR.

Since he previously refined the application of geophysical methods, including radar, for imaging footprints at White Sands, Thomas Urban was able to quickly identify what was hidden.

The discovery of ancient footprints at what is now known as the Trackway Site complements findings found nearby at the Wishbone Site in 2016. The sites are located within a half mile of each other in what would have been a large wetland now referred to by scientists as the Old River Bed Delta.

A footprint discovered on an archaeological site is marked with a pin flag on the Utah Test and Training Range, July 18, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)

A 12,300-year-old open-air hearth, or fire pit, was discovered at Wishbone, together with burnt bird bones, charcoal, and other artifacts such as Haskett projectile points and stone tools. Evidence was also discovered for the world’s oldest known human usage of tobacco.

 According to Principal Investigator Dr. Daron Duke, who has researched prehistoric sites on the UTTR and throughout the desert west of Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona said the most surprising and telling thing about finding the footprints is the insight it provides into the daily life of a family group thousands of years ago.

Duke said in a statement, “Based on excavations of several prints, we’ve found evidence of adults with children from about 5 to 12 years of age that were leaving bare footprints,” he said. “People appear to have been walking in shallow water, the sand rapidly infilling their print behind them — much as you might experience on a beach — but under the sand was a layer of mud that kept the print intact after infilling.”

Daron Duke, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, shows visitors’ footprints discovered on an archaeological site on the Utah Test and Training Range, July 18, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)

With the 100-plus degrees on the dry, stark landscape of the UTTR in July today, it is difficult to visualize the above scenario, but Duke said “there have been no wetland conditions to produce the trackways,” or footprint trails, in this remote area of the Great Salt Lake desert since at least approximately 10,000 years ago.

“Our long-term work on the geochronology of this area suggests these prints are likely more than 12,000 years old,” he said.

Duke added that although the area is now part of active weapons and training range, it in many ways serves as a “preserve” for these archaeological sites.

Cornell University

Cover Photo: Footprints discovered on an archaeological site are marked with a pin flag on the Utah Test and Training Range. R. Nial Bradshaw

Related Articles

For the first time, researchers discovered bioarchaeological evidence of familial embalming in early modern France

16 November 2024

16 November 2024

A unique discovery has revealed new insights into the burial rituals of early modern Western Europe: For the first time,...

5,500-Year-Old Blade Workshop Unearthed Near Biblical Gath Reveals

28 July 2025

28 July 2025

In a groundbreaking archaeological discovery, Israeli researchers have unearthed a 5,500-year-old flint blade workshop near Kiryat Gat, southern Israel—the first...

Earliest Direct Evidence of Psychoactive Plant Use in Iron Age Arabia Identified in Tomb at Qurayyah

25 May 2025

25 May 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, scientists have uncovered the earliest known use of the psychoactive plant Peganum harmala—commonly known as...

A courtesan ‘hetaira’ tomb was discovered in a burial cave during excavations in Via Hebron

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

During excavations in the Via Hebron in Jerusalem, a burial cave containing the tomb of a courtesan (hetaira in Ancient...

Viking Ship Burials Shrouded in Mystery on Danish Island

25 May 2021

25 May 2021

Archaeologists studying the origins and makeup of the Kalvestene burial field, a famed place in Scandinavian legend, have undertaken new...

Centuries-Old Shipwrecks in Costa Rica Identified as Danish Slave Ships

5 May 2025

5 May 2025

Marine archaeologists have definitively identified two long-known shipwrecks off the coast of Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica as the...

2000-years-old Hercules Rock Relief is being Vandalized

17 February 2024

17 February 2024

The 2000-year-old Hercules Rock Relief, located in Deliktaş, approximately 2.5 kilometers northeast of the Iznik district center of Bursa, is...

Persian plateau unveiled as crucial hub for early human migration out of Africa, study suggests

29 March 2024

29 March 2024

60,000 to 70,000 years ago, our species Homo sapiens walked out of Africa and began to find new homes around...

Ancient gypsum furniture was discovered in a fire temple in the ancient region of Vigol in Iran

1 June 2021

1 June 2021

Sets of gypsum furniture, including a carved table and chairs, were discovered during an archaeological dig in central Iran. According...

The first mother-daughter burial from the Roman period found in Austria

3 May 2024

3 May 2024

Modern scientific methods are increasingly uncovering spectacular results from archaeological finds dating back a long time. A grave discovered 20...

Medieval ‘Testicle Dagger’ Unearthed at Swedish Fortress

19 May 2025

19 May 2025

Archaeologists in Gothenburg, southwestern Sweden, have made a rather striking discovery at the site of the ancient Gullberg Fortress: a...

Recent excavations reveal the complete water conservancy system of the nearly 5000-year-old Liangzhu Ruins

26 November 2024

26 November 2024

In recent excavations around the Liangzhu Ruins in east China’s Zhejiang Province, researchers have discovered about 20 ancient dams. Seven...

Homo Bodoensis may be the ancestor of modern humans

28 October 2021

28 October 2021

Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineages, their kinship with other human species that roamed the world is...

Radiocarbon dating makes it possible for the first time to check the extent to which archaeological findings match historical events from written sources

17 November 2023

17 November 2023

Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have published a new radiocarbon dataset for Tel Gezer, one of the most...

Hunting tools Dating Back 1900 Years Found inside a Cave in Querétaro, Mexico

27 January 2024

27 January 2024

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found hunting weapons dating back approximately 1,900 years in a...