Mexican footprints among oldest in America

MEXICO CITY, Oct 26: Ancient human footprints discovered in the Mexican desert may be among the oldest in the Americas, researchers said.

The 13 footprints found in Cuatro Cienegas in the northern state of Coahuila are fossilized in stone less than 2 cm deep and are around the age of the oldest known footprints in North or South America.

''We believe they could be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old,'' said archeologist Yuri de la Rosa. ''The research we have done on Cuatro Cienegas shows the presence of hunters and gatherers in the Coahuila desert beginning 10,000 years ago.'' The oldest discovered human footprints in the New World are in Monte Verde, Chile and are believed to be around 13,000 years old.

The earliest known hominid tread marks are the Laetoli footsteps in Tanzania. At 3.7 million years old, they far predate the advent of homo sapiens.

In 2003, researchers found what they believed were 40,000-year-old footprints in a quarry in central Mexico. Largely discredited, that find could have greatly changed the understanding of human history in the Americas.

Archaeologists with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History are investigating the area around Cuatro Cienegas to further determine the footprints' age.

Reuters