World Atlas Core Records · Migration

White Sands trackways

c. 21,050-19,050 BCE (23,000-21,000 calibrated years BP) · New Mexico, United States

Human footprints beside ancient Lake Otero document movement through North America during the last Ice Age.

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AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to White Sands trackways, c. 21,050-19,050 BCE (23,000-21,000 calibrated years BP). — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event.

How the setting appeared

Muddy lake margins, shallow wetlands, grasses, reeds and animal trackways; no later horses, tipis or permanent town.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Setting and material context · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

People moved through a changing wetland landscape in small groups that included children.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Lifeways and community · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

Tracks show travel and repeated use of the lakeshore; other daily tasks remain uncertain.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Work, tools and exchange · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

Footprints do not reveal a named belief system or specific ritual.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Homo sapiens and migrations
Region: North America · New Mexico, United States
Languages and scripts: Not named in this record
Important people: No individual is centered in this record
Events and changes: c. 23,000-21,000 calibrated years BP: people repeatedly crossed wet ground near Pleistocene Lake Otero, leaving fossil trackways.; 2023 CE: terrestrial-pollen radiocarbon dates and optically stimulated luminescence measurements independently supported the footprint chronology.
Evidence confidence: High for the trackways; dating has been tested through multiple methods but should remain a range.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Dates, place, language, people, events and confidence · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDSCIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-CORE-WHITE-SANDS

White Sands trackways: record evidence guide

https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/fossilized-footprints.htm

nps.gov

CIT-CORE035-WHITE-SANDS-USGS

Independent Age Estimates Resolve the Controversy of Ancient Human Footprints at White Sands

https://www.usgs.gov/publications/independent-age-estimates-resolve-controversy-ancient-human-footprints-white-sands

U.S. Geological Survey

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