Archaeologists in Chile believe they have discovered a human footprint dated to between 15,500 and 16,000 years old, which will be the earliest physical evidence of human activity in the Americas and therefore this find could change the way we view the history of human settlement.
Discovered in the archaeological site of Pilauco, an area that has been excavated for the past 12 years, the footprint was discovered in late Pleistocene sediment. At the Pilauco site, located in the Chilean city of Osorno, the experts have also discovered evidence of horses and an extinct type of elephant.
The footprint isn’t actually a new discovery as it was noticed by a university student back in 2010 near a modern house and over the past 9 years, scientists and archaeologists have been cautious in their interpretation as some believed it was an animal track, not human.
But through in-depth analysis, palaeontologist Karen Moreno and geologist Mario Pino are now in a position to reliably confirm that what we are looking at was indeed created by human activity.
This news story comes on the back of another new discovery last week when archaeologists discovered that humans were in southwestern Amazonia, in Bolivia, at least 10,000 years ago, that’s 7,500 years earlier than originally thought. Watch the video to find more about these exciting finds.
All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only.