Oldest Human Footprint in Americas May Be This 15,600-Year-Old Mark in Chile

The earliest human footprint on record in the Americas wasn't found in Canada, the United States or even Mexico; it was found much farther south, in Chile, and it dates to an astonishing 15,600 years ago, a new study finds.

The finding sheds light on when humans first reached the Americas, likely by traveling across the Bering Strait land bridge in the midst of the last ice age.

This 10.2-inch-long (26 centimeters) print might even be evidence of pre-Clovis people in South America, the group that came before the Clovis, which are known for their distinctive spearheads, the researchers said.

I’ve been into this stuff for a long time.

I found a very good article a while back about a dig in South America, never spotted a follow up, but they found a stone tool in a layer of soil determined to be about 20,000 years old, indicating human existence in the Americas long before ever suspected.

Another find in the 90’s was wood on the western shores of South America from a ship originating in Europe or Asia but I can’t remember the dates, seems like it was over 10,000 years ago.

Some finds in north America also point to the possibility of humans in this hemisphere 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, while the Clovis people were originally considered the first, at about 12,000 years ago.

The biggest problem is dating objects that old. Most organic matter that can be carbon dated is unlikely to last 10,000 years or more, even in arid climates like the southwest. Often the best evidence they can find is things like the depth of soil in which an item is found or surrounding areas with signs of a known geological event or natural disaster, such as the widespread evidence of flooding worldwide at a certain time period. One good example is a well preserved pair of woven sandals found in a cave somewhere in the Southwest that were approximately 10,000 years old. Very unusual. Most places, these would have rotted to dust in 200 years. Or less. In south Louisiana about 3 hours...OK I’m exaggerating...

The possibility of prehistoric travelers arriving here by boat shouldn’t be dismissed. Columbus sailed out into relatively unknown seas, Vikings are commonly believed to have sailed here at least 500 years before Columbus, so why wouldn’t some adventurous soul much earlier than them decide to see what’s on the other side of that sunrise? Evidence supporting the idea has been found. Not enough to confirm it as fact, but enough to leave the question open.

OK here we go again...

That 6,000 year old earth theory leaves out a few things.

Early in the Bible is a list of everyone from Adam down to Abraham. I can’t remember where, but it’s in all that begatting stuff...OK so it totals 4,000 years, it’s been 2,000 years since Jesus, BINGO earth is 6,000 years old...

Not so fast..what about Methusla, who lived a thousand years? And then it says that in those days men lived that long. Actually others are noted, for some reason Methusla got all the attention. So how many generations of men lived a thousand years? We get no answer from the Bible, just the claim that in those days men lived that long. So...3 or 4 generations lived 1,000 years, and your 6,000 years is gone bye bye long ago...

Then there’s this Adam and Eve thing. Just how long did they live in the Garden of Eden “unaware of their mortality”...in other words, immortal? 1,000 years? 10,000 years? 50,000 years? We get no answer but we do know until Eve decided to partake of the “fruit of the tree of knowledge” they were immortal. (oh yeah, and nowhere I ever found did it say a thing about any apple...) So they could have theoretically been 100,000 years old at that point, we don’t know. Or even older...

Also, at some point, the Bible says that a day to God is as 1,000 years to a man. So just the 7 day creation story was actually 7,000 years, according to that claim...so 7,000 years for creation and at least 6,000 since then...plus how many generations lived 1,000 years...and just how long did Adam and Eve live?

Now...go out in your front yard one night and look up. See those bright spots? We call them stars. Some of them are millions of light years away. That means it took the light from some of those stars millions of years or more to get here. If you check the Hubble Telescope website, you can see pictures it has taken of galaxies over 10 million light years away.

Just in case you don’t know it, a light year is the distance light travels in a year, at 186,000 miles per second. That’s pretty quick...

If Earth was only 6,000 years old, the most distant star we could see would be 6,000 light years away. We wouldn’t even be able to see the other side of this galaxy, much less other galaxies millions of light years away from it.

The idea that earth is only 6,000 years old is beyond ludicrous. Probably as ludicrous as the surprising number of people who seem to actually believe the earth is flat...and will argue about it all freakin day...

Sorry but whoever it was that decided Earth was 6,000 years old ignored quite a few things that blow the idea right out of the water.

For one using "facts" from the Bible to build an argument or refute one, one ought to actually know the material.

II Peter3:8 ‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’

Which is a reference to Palms 90:4
For a thousand years in your sight are but as byesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

BTW, I do agree the 6,000 year timeframe is ludicrous.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.