Specifically, the new paper finds that the mud is between 20,700 and 22,400 years old—which correlates with the original finding that the footprints are between 21,000 and 23,000 years old. The new study now marks the third type of material—mud in addition to seeds and pollen—used to date the footprints, and by three different labs. Two separate research groups now have a total of 55 consistent radiocarbon dates.
“It’s a remarkably consistent record,”
“You get to the point where it’s really hard to explain all this away,” he added. “As I say in the paper, it would be serendipity in the extreme to have all these dates giving you a consistent picture that’s in error.”