It does not look like a breakthrough at first. Just the faint outline of a foot, pressed into what was once soft ground and later hardened by time. No bones nearby. No tools neatly arranged. And yet this single footprint, found in southern Chile, may be one of the most important human traces ever uncovered in the Americas. After years of careful work, scientists now believe it was made around 15,600 years ago. That date matters because it comes earlier than any other confirmed sign of people living this far south. The footprint was discovered more than a decade ago, then quietly studied, questioned, and tested. Only now are researchers confident enough to say it changes the story of how and when humans reached South America.
Oldest human footprint in the Americas found preserved in Chilean mud
The footprint was uncovered in 2010 near Osorno, a city surrounded by rivers and wetlands in southern Chile. At the time, it raised eyebrows but not certainty. Archaeology has a long history of bold claims that later fall apart, and this was just one print in the ground.Rather than rush to announce it, a research team from the Universidad Austral de Chile chose to slow things down. Led by scientist Karen Moreno, they spent years examining not just the print itself, but everything around it. Their findings were eventually published in the journal PLOS One, after nearly a decade of study.That long wait is part of what gives the discovery weight. The team knew the claim would be challenged, especially because it pushed human presence in South America further back than many experts expected.
Reading the ground around the footprint
Because a footprint cannot be dated directly, the researchers turned to the sediment that preserved it. That layer of soil turned out to be rich in clues.Seeds, fragments of ancient wood, and even part of a mastodon skull were found embedded nearby. Each could be analysed using established dating techniques. Together, they pointed to an age of about 15,600 years.Bones from extinct animals, including mastodons and ancient horses, were scattered through the area. Small flakes of stone were also found, suggesting human activity rather than a random natural setting. According to reporting by Reuters, this combination of evidence helped anchor the footprint firmly in the distant past.
Making sure it was human
Perhaps the most challenging aspect was establishing the print’s human origin. Mud can be deceptive. Animals, erosion, and even collapsing ground can leave marks that look convincing at first glance.Moreno’s team ran nine separate experiments, recreating similar muddy conditions and testing how different bodies would leave impressions. The results were consistent. The shape, depth, and pressure pattern matched a barefoot human foot.The analysis suggested the print was made by an adult, likely male, weighing around 155 pounds. No known animal left a comparable mark. The toes, arch, and heel lined up too neatly with human anatomy. Based on this, the footprint was classified as Hominipes modernus, a label used for prints attributed to humans or closely related species.
Why this changes the migration story
For years, the Monte Verde site in Chile, dated to around 14,600 years ago, was treated as the earliest confirmed human settlement in South America. This footprint appears to be older by about a thousand years.There are older claims in North America, including a site in Texas dated to roughly 15,500 years ago, but those remain debated. What sets the Chilean find apart is its simplicity. A footprint is a direct trace of a human body, frozen in time.If the dating holds up under further scrutiny, it suggests humans moved into South America earlier and more quickly than previously thought, possibly along coastal routes or through landscapes that left little lasting evidence.
A small mark with a long echo
It is easy to overlook something so ordinary. People walk every day, leaving footprints that vanish within hours. This one survived for more than 15,000 years.The site itself is quiet now. Wet ground, low light, and little to suggest the moment it captured. Yet that single step hints at a human presence far earlier than many textbooks allow.Science rarely changes in one dramatic moment. It shifts slowly, sometimes by a footprint at a time. This one may prove to be exactly that kind of step.
