Editor’s note: Editor’s note: Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. (CNN) — When the discovery of fossilized footprints made in what’s now New Mexico was made public in 2021, it was a bombshell moment for archaeology, seemingly rewriting a chapter of the...
, it was a bombshell moment for archaeology, seemingly rewriting a chapter of the human story. Now new research is offering further evidence of their significance.
“Even as the original work was being published, we were forging ahead to test our results with multiple lines of evidence,” said Kathleen Springer, research geologist at the US Geological Survey and co-lead author on the new Science paper, in a news release. The scientists were able to isolate some 75,000 grains of pollen, collected from the exact same layers as the original seeds, for each sample. Thousands of grains are required to achieve the mass necessary for a single radiocarbon measurement. The pollen age matched that found for the seeds.
A trench at the study site with David Bustos, White Sands National Park's resource program manager, in the foreground. Bente Philippsen, an associate professor and radiocarbon dating expert at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said determining the age of pollen grain is an “intricate process that comes with a risk of contamination.”
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