White Sands footprints

Other tracks included those of extinct megafauna, such as Columbian mammoths and ground sloths, as well as those of predators such as the American lion and dire wolves.

One explanation of this finding is that the teenagers and children were assigned tasks such as 'fetching and carrying' near the lake bed, whereas the adults were engaged elsewhere in more skilled activities.

[1][6] It is thought that, counting both human and animal tracks, there are hundreds of thousands of fossilised footprints in the White Sands area.

[4][8] A study accounting for this effect suggesting that the maximum age of the footprints is likely only 15,500–13,500 in calibrated years Before Present, which is similar to the dates found for many other archaeological sites across the Americas.

[8][10] However, these dates have also been considered uncertain by other authors, who suggest that they represent maximum ages, rather than true age estimates, due to the samples being only taken from a layer below the footprints, the potential for partially bleached grain in the sample to give an erroneous date, and the potential for old pollen to be eroded and redeposited into younger layers.