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Research
Why are the footprints important?
The footprints research is vitally important for the study of the settlement
of the Americas because it:
- Provides extensively validated data that directly challenges
current theories on the peopling of the Americas.
The presence of 40,000 years old human footprints means that the ‘Clovis
First’ model of human occupation can no longer be accepted as
the first evidence of human presence in the Americas. New routes of
migration that explain the existence of these much earlier sites now
need urgent consideration.
- Re-confirms the significance of Central Mexico as one of
the most important areas for the study of early human occupation in
the Americas.
The research reported here supports a much earlier human migration than
is currently accepted – with colonisation at around 40,000 years
ago compared to 11,500 years ago as proposed by the Clovis First Model.
- Indicates that other suggested early occupation sites in
the Americas should be re-evaluated carefully in a wider continental
scale approach, rather than as isolated sites.
- Proves that the Valsequillo region has considerable potential
for further studies of ancient human and animal footprints.
The Xalnene Ash occurs extensively within the Valsequillo Basin and
further sites with human and animal footprints have been observed by
the team in the area. Further investigation of the ‘Xalnene ash
footprint layer’ may yield further data, enabling researchers
to provide a more precise calculation of the height, pace and stride
of the human population present. Such research would also give a better
understanding of the association between animals and humans at this
time.
- Adds to the global archive of human prints.
The presence of ancient human and animal prints is a rare occurrence
in nature, because it requires special conditions for their preservation.
The Valsequillo Basin footprints add to this literature and reflect
specific environmental conditions for their preservation within this
area of Central Mexico.
Well documented examples include the Laetoli prints in East Africa,
the Roccamonfina prints in Italy; the Mesolithic prints from the Severn
estuary and the Mesolithic to Bronze Age Formby footprints in the UK.
There are also reports of supposed Late Pleistocene human footprints
preserved in volcanic sequences from Amanalco de Becerra (Estado de
México) and middle Holocene from Acahualinca in Nicaragua.
- Helps to solve the archaeological controversy relating to
the dating of the Valsequillo deposits. The research helps
to resolve the controversy related to the antiquity of the archaeological
(lithics and worked bone) and megafaunal remains that were reported
in several archaeological sites scattered around the Valsequillo Basin
(Hueyatlaco, El Horno, Barranca Caulapan) found in the Valsequillo Gravels
in the 1960s and 1970s by Cynthia Irving Williams and Juan Armenta.
The new dating evidence presented here, indicates that they are Late
Pleistocene in age (approx. 20,000 to 40,000 years ago). A Mexican research
team lead by Patricia Ochoa from the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia
e Historia (INAH) in collaboration with Michael Waters of Texas A &
M University has undertaken new excavation work at the original archaeological
site of Hueyatlaco, so new results are expected soon on the association
of megafaunal remains and lithics atthis site.
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