{"id":460969,"date":"2025-12-20T22:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T22:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/460969\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T22:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T22:58:14","slug":"scientists-just-discovered-the-oldest-human-footprint-ever-found-hidden-in-chilean-mud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/460969\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Just Discovered the Oldest Human Footprint Ever Found, Hidden in Chilean Mud"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fossilized human footprint found in southern Chile has been dated to 15,600 years ago<\/strong>, making it the oldest known footprint in the Americas<\/strong>. The discovery suggests that humans may have reached South America more than 1,000 years earlier<\/strong> than previously believed.<\/p>\n

Unearthed in the city of Osorno, the footprint was first discovered in 2010 but only recently confirmed after nearly a decade of analysis. If validated, the find could reshape our understanding of early human migration across the continent.<\/p>\n

Dating a Footprint From the Distant Past<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fossil was studied by researchers from Universidad Austral de Chile and led by Karen Moreno<\/a>, whose findings were published in PLOS One<\/a>. Prior to this discovery, most scientific consensus held that human presence in South America began after the last Ice Age<\/strong>, with the Monte Verde site in Chile\u2014dated to about 14,600 years ago<\/strong>\u2014long considered the continent\u2019s earliest sign of habitation. <\/p>\n

According to Moreno, the newly confirmed footprint predates the Monte Verde site and stands as the first official evidence of human activity in South America older than 12,000 years<\/strong>. While sites of a similar age\u2014such as one in Texas with evidence dating back 15,500 years\u2014have been reported in North America, the Chilean discovery remains the earliest direct physical proof of human presence<\/strong> on the continent. As she explained: <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLittle by little in South America we\u2019re starting to find sites with evidence of human presence, but this is the oldest in the Americas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"PhotoPhoto of the footprint feature at Pilauco; sediment lump in the trackbed (star). Credit: PLOS ONE<\/p>\n

A Fossil-Rich Layer That Locks In the Footprint\u2019s Age<\/p>\n

Since the print itself couldn\u2019t be directly dated, researchers analyzed the sediment layer<\/strong> in which it was found. That layer contained seeds<\/strong>, wood fragments<\/strong>, and even part of a mastodon skull<\/strong>, which helped scientists determine the fossil\u2019s age. As mentioned by Reuters<\/a>, this multi-layered approach placed the footprint firmly at 15,600 years old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The site was also littered with the bones of mastodons<\/strong>, horses<\/strong>, and other extinct animals. IFL Science reported<\/a> that flakes of stone<\/strong> were found nearby as well, suggesting the area may have been a hunting ground. These contextual clues further supported the hypothesis that the footprint belonged to a human actively engaged with the environment, rather than being an accidental or natural formation.<\/p>\n

\"AncientAncient footprint shown with drying cracks after excavation in Osorno. Credit: Universidad Austral de Chile, Laboratorio de Sitio Pilauco\/Karen Moreno, Juan Enrique Bostelma<\/p>\n

Proving It Was Human, Not Animal<\/p>\n

Determining whether the impression was truly human took years of detailed testing. Moreno and her team conducted nine experiments<\/strong> to evaluate the kind of pressure required to form the footprint<\/a> in similar sediments. The results pointed to a barefoot adult male<\/strong> weighing around 155 pounds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The footprint matched no known animal pattern. Its shape, proportions, and pressure distribution closely resembled that of a modern human, eliminating the likelihood of it being created by an animal or by natural erosion. Based on the analysis, the team classified it as Hominipes modernus<\/strong>, a scientific designation for prints attributed to humans or closely related species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fossilized human footprint found in southern Chile has been dated to 15,600 years ago, making it the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":460970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-460969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}