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Humans experienced abrupt environmental changes at White Sands during the Last Glacial Maximum

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Expanded excavations at White Sands National Park have unearthed 20 stratigraphic horizons containing in situ human footprints, megafaunal trackways, and linear features created by travois. Advances in radiocarbon dating of conifer pollen, combined with ages of aquatic seeds, refines the chronology of the footprint-bearing sequence to between 23.5 and 21.7 thousand years ago (ka). Biomarker, pollen, and stratigraphic evidence indicate a complete overturning of the environment from a perennial lake to a playa and capture a large aridification episode coincident with Dansgaard-Oeschger event 2 at 23.2 ka, which shrank pluvial Lake Otero and allowed people to traverse the former shoreline area for nearly two millennia. This well-dated and highly resolved paleoclimate record provides compelling evidence that humans in North America experienced marked environmental changes during the Last Glacial Maximum.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeh0707
Authors: Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Jessica E. Tierney, Jeffrey S. Honke, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, David Bustos, Thomas M. Urban, Daniel Odess, Edward A. Jolie, Alison J. Smith, Abigail J. Hunt, Patrick J. Martinez, Vincent L. Santucci, Sally C. Reynolds, Matthew R. Bennett
Institutions: United States Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, University of Arizona, Universidad de Granada, National Park Service, Cornell University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Arizona State Museum, Kent State University, Bournemouth University
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W7221808568
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Cites: 66
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