The White Sands Footprints

Around 23,000 years ago, people walked along an ancient lakeshore in what is now White Sands National Park, New Mexico. The tracks they left behind have pushed back the dates of known human occupation of the Americas by thousands of years. In this episode, scientists from the White Sands team share the story of how these Paleolithic prints were discovered, identified, and dated.

Part two will explore what the White Sands footprints can tell us about life at the peak of the last Ice Age.

Origin Stories is a project of the Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries. If you can, please give to support the show. Your donation will be matched!

This episode was generously sponsored by Leakey Foundation Trustee Naoma Tate. Origin Stories is made possible by our listener-supporters. Additional support comes from Jeanne Newman, Camilla and George Smith, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.

Links to learn more:

White Sands National Park - Fossilized Footprints White Sands National Park - website Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, 2021 - Open Access Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands, 2023 - Open Access Paleolake geochronology supports Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age for human tracks at White Sands, New Mexico, 2025 - Open Access Berkeley Geochronology Center Video of researchers working on the trackways at White Sands

Special thanks to our friends at the Berkeley Geochronology Center and White Sands National Park.

This episode was reported, produced, and sound designed by Ray Pang, hosted by Meredith Johson, our editor is Audrey Quinn. Music by Blue Dot Sessions, additional music by Lee Roservere.