Graham Hancock on archaeology: what the evidence says · JRE #2215
SUBJECT: ARCHAEOLOGY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
And there, yes, they found human footprints dated back more than 23,000 years.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Fossil human footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico were first radiocarbon dated in a 2021 Science study, using Ruppia cirrhosa seeds, to between about 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. After skeptics questioned the aquatic-seed dating, a 2023 follow-up study led by USGS geologists used two additional independent methods, radiocarbon dating of terrestrial conifer pollen and optically stimulated luminescence of quartz grains, and both reconfirmed the 21,000 to 23,000 year range (OSL gave a minimum age of about 21,500 years). The footprints therefore date to at least roughly 21,000 to 23,000 years ago, placing humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, which is the substance of Hancock's point. Saying the prints are dated to more than 23,000 years slightly overstates the published upper bound: 23,000 years is the top of the range, not a floor, and the dates are not accepted by all researchers.