Posted on 04/25/2006 11:15:18 AM PDT by blam
Cloud of scholarly dust rises over ancient footprints claim
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
BRADLEY T. LEPPER
Are the footprints of surprisingly ancient Americans preserved in 40,000-year-old volcanic ash in southern Mexico? In December, an article in the journal Science cast a cloud of doubt over that claim.
The authors, Michael Waters and Paul Renne, argue that the ash dated to 1.3 million years ago, much too old for humans on this continent, and that the so-called footprints were nothing more than marks made by the tools of modern workers quarrying the stone with crowbars.
Now, Silvia Gonzalez, an archaeologist from Liverpool John Moores University, and several members of her research team have published their data and interpretations in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. Based on their results, the case is far from closed.
According to the researchers, the early dates for the ash are wrong. They note that the overlying deposits range in age from 9,000 to 40,000 years, with no evidence of significant breaks in the sequence.
Moreover, an article in the March issue of the Mammoth Trumpet states that Gonzalez and her team have dated lake sediments below the ash layer to about 100,000 years ago, which would mean the ash had to be considerably younger than the date reported in Science.
Gonzalez and her co-authors also claim the "footprints" are distinct from recent tool markings, which are sharply defined and unweathered.
Also, many of the footprints appear to preserve details of foot anatomy that would not be duplicated by quarry tool divots. Finally, and most importantly, the team has identified more "potential footprints" in nearby locations "where no quarrying operations have occurred."
Gonzalez told the Mammoth Trumpet that the only way to fully answer the critics would be "to excavate an area where there has been no quarry activity and uncover more footprints. We will do this as soon as we can."
The most famous ancient footprints are the 3.6 million-year-old tracks of early human ancestors excavated by Mary Leakey at Laetoli in Tanzania, Africa.
In the current issue of the Journal of Human Evolution, Australian scientists announced the discovery of 23,000-year-old trackways of human footprints in western New South Wales.
Bradley T. Lepper is curator of archaeology at the Ohio Historical Society.
GGG Ping.
Creationists have absolutely nothing of value to contribute to the discussion. When was the last time a creationist made a discovery? Contributed to the sum total of human knowledge?
Thanks for thinking for me. Next time, please post a photo so I can judge for myself.
Was the footprint pointing north?
Back when they found the human footprints within the dinosaur footprints at Glen Rose, Texas, those chisling out phony footprints inside other dinosaur tracks for a quick buck said there were just too many details in the actual footprints for them to copy, so one could tell which were the real McCoy.
Guy was wearing Bruno Maglis.
Correction: The Dec 2005 article was in Nature, not Science. I've spent the last 15 minutes trying to find this thing!
Please note that this thread has nothing to do with Creationism, and that you're the one who first mentioned it.
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Alleged 40,000-Year-Old Human Footprints In Mexico Much, Much Older Than Thought
Eureka Alert/UC-Berkeley | 11-30-2005 | Robert Sanders
Posted on 11/30/2005 2:24:19 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1531402/posts
Report Examines Ancient Mexican Footprints
Yahoo (AP) | Wed Nov 30, 8:34 PM ET | JENN WIANT
Posted on 12/01/2005 8:32:22 AM EST by The_Victor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1531866/posts
Human Footprints older than thought
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-11/uoc--a4h112805.php
Posted on 12/01/2005 2:01:48 PM EST by Tzimisce
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1532106/posts
'Footprints' Debate To Run And Run (40K YO Human Footprints, Mexico)
BBC | 1-16-2006 | Martin Redfern
Posted on 01/17/2006 7:01:30 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1559913/posts
Calico: A 200,000-year Old Site In The Americas?
ASA On Line | unknown
Posted on 12/17/2001 5:22:22 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/592435/posts
Mexico offers up ancient footprintsA group of British scientists claimed yesterday to have identified human footprints in central Mexico that are 40,000 years old, almost three times older than the most generally accepted evidence for human settlement in the Americas. The team from universities in Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Oxford are convinced that the footprints are human and represent several adults and children who walked in freshly fallen volcanic ash in the Valsequillo Basin, about 80 miles south-east of Mexico City. Working with international colleagues, they have applied dating techniques on the sediment itself and on finds including a land snail, a water snail and a mammoth tooth, all of which came back with an age of around 40,000 years.
Maev Kennedy
July 05, 2005Footsteps in time that add 30,000 years to history of AmericaThe prints, found by the scientists at the edge of a lake in Mexico, are thought to be about 40,000 years old... Casts of the footprints reveal that a community of Homo sapiens lived in the Valsequillo Basin, near Puebla in central Mexico. Their feet ranged in size from those of small children, aged about 5 or 6, to adults who would have fitted size eight shoes. The prints were found at the bottom of an abandoned quarry and were preserved in volcanic rock... The Liverpool and Bournemouth team discovered the footprints in September 2003 but have only recently had confirmation of their age from scientists at Oxford University. Dating techniques included radiocarbon dating and optical stimulated luminescence.
Lewis Smith
July 05, 200540,000-year-old footprint of first AmericansThe team, led by Dr Silvia Gonzalez from Liverpool John Moores University, has completed dating the footprints, which Dr Gonzalez found in an abandoned quarry with her Liverpool colleague Prof David Huddart and Prof Matthew Bennett, of Bournemouth University, in September 2003. The findings supported the theory that the first colonists might have been seafarers who took an "island hopping" route from Australia and Polynesia, when sea levels were lower, to the west coast, said Prof Bennett.
Roger Highfield
July 05, 2005
Just leaving the footprints that Americans refuse to leave.
Looking for the "real" killers no doubt.
OJ didn't find them on the golf course, I guess.
"When was the last time a creationist made a discovery? Contributed to the sum total of human knowledge?"
The religious, the Faithful are responsible for a great deal of the advancement of science and understanding all thru history. Without them there would be no science, as a look at history will tell.
In fact it was the Creator Himself who said that man is made in "My Image" and so pointed Man toward understanding.
"Thanks for thinking for me."
I don't quite see how posting an article written by someone else constitutes doing your thinking for you. Blam has been responsible for posting many interesting threads dealing with archeology, anthropology and earth science topics, and I for one appreciate his efforts on our behalf. If there are photos out there, I would certainly enjoy seeing them, but they might not have been included with the article.
Since this seems to be the only science article today, I will post this little item here. It may relate to what the Romans called the Great Year,which is about 24,000 years and is when the zodiac completes a revolution.
Evidence Mounts For Companion Star To Our Sun
Thanks, Gleeaiken, there are numerous photos in the links in post #11.
Whoa. Who knew?
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