7 February 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

3500-year-old grape seed remains found in western Anatolia

12 September 2023

12 September 2023

Archaeologists at the Aşağıseyit Höyük (Aşağıseyit Mound) site in western Anatolia’s Denizli have uncovered a 3,500-year-old grape seed. Aşağıseyi Höyük...

At Ostrowite, archaeologists have discovered a high-status burial dating back almost a thousand years

2 January 2022

2 January 2022

Archaeologists have discovered a burial chamber in Ostrowite, in Poland’s Pomeranian Voivodeship, containing several high-status grave goods from the 11th...

Discovery of immense 4,000-year-old fortifications surrounding the Khaybar Oasis, one of the longest-known Oasis

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Archaeologists have recently made a groundbreaking discovery in northwestern Arabia, unearthing immense fortifications that date back an astonishing 4,000 years....

Excavation of the Temple of Athena Began in the Ancient City of Aigai

15 October 2021

15 October 2021

The foundations of the Temple of Athena were unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Aigai, located...

Dartmoor mining discovery rewrites more than 1,000 years of history

18 July 2021

18 July 2021

A new discovery at a Dartmoor mine in England dates human activity there back potentially by more than 1,000 years....

Archaeologists may have Found a Viking Age Marketplace in Norway

21 February 2024

21 February 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Stavanger have identified the possible remains of a marketplace from the Viking Age on a...

Rare gladiator tombs were discovered in the Ancient City of Anavarza in southern Türkiye

10 August 2022

10 August 2022

Archaeologists have discovered rare gladiator tombs in the ancient city of Anavarza, known as the “Invincible city” in history, which...

3D printing technology was used for the restored relic restoration of an ancient palace in Liangzhu Archaeological Site

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Six rebuilt massive wooden pillars of an old palace have been exposed to the public for the first time at...

New Discoveries on the İsland of Skokholm

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

New discoveries dating back 9000 years have been found in Skokholm, located in the Celtic Sea two miles off the...

1900 years old a rare mosaic was discovered in Durrës, Albania

6 November 2023

6 November 2023 1

In the port city of Durrës, on the Adriatic Sea in western Albania, a unique mosaic dating back 1900 years...

2700-year-old Assyrian carvings found near Mashki Gate destroyed by Isis

20 October 2022

20 October 2022

The U.S. and Iraqi archaeologists have unearthed ancient rock carvings believed to be more than 2,700 years old in Iraq’s...

Botanical Findings Analysis from Biblical area of Goliath sheds Unprecedented Light on Philistine Ritual Practices

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

Bar-Ilan University researchers shed “unprecedented light” on Philistine ritual practices, such as the use of psychoactive and medicinal plants, by...

Will new Technology be able to Solve the Mystery in Masovia?

14 May 2021

14 May 2021

Although there are about 500 medieval tombs found in today’s Masovia and Podlasie cities, the question of who these tombs...

In France, a burial with six ankle bracelets was uncovered

22 December 2022

22 December 2022

An individual bedecked in copper jewelry was discovered during the excavation of a protohistoric necropolis in Aubagne, southeastern France. The...

“Land of the Thousand Temples” Kancheepuram in India

20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Kancheepuram, one of the most sacred and religious Hindu pilgrim centers in India is also called the ‘Land of the...