Graham Hancock

It's a very fine, very white sand. And it just goes on forever. And the dunes are sculpted and massive and huge. We had an amazing time there.

It's a very fine, very white sand. And it just goes on forever. And the dunes are sculpted and massive and huge. We had an amazing time there.

It's a very fine, very white sand. And it just goes on forever. And the dunes are sculpted and massive and huge. We had an amazing time there.

There's thousands of them. And what's amazing when you actually see the footprints is you can see the interactions between the human beings and animals. You can see that somebody is reacting to a giant sloth, which has suddenly turned around, and the person who's behind it suddenly turns around as well. Wow. Mammoth footprints overlaying human footprints and then human footprints overlaying those.

There's thousands of them. And what's amazing when you actually see the footprints is you can see the interactions between the human beings and animals. You can see that somebody is reacting to a giant sloth, which has suddenly turned around, and the person who's behind it suddenly turns around as well. Wow. Mammoth footprints overlaying human footprints and then human footprints overlaying those.

There's thousands of them. And what's amazing when you actually see the footprints is you can see the interactions between the human beings and animals. You can see that somebody is reacting to a giant sloth, which has suddenly turned around, and the person who's behind it suddenly turns around as well. Wow. Mammoth footprints overlaying human footprints and then human footprints overlaying those.

And it goes down for meters under the ground. So you have a very deep stratification of these impressions that have been left behind by our ancestors. and by animals that are now completely extinct. Mammoths and mastodons went extinct during the Younger Dryas, but there are their footprints from 23,000 years ago side by side with the footprints of human beings.

And it goes down for meters under the ground. So you have a very deep stratification of these impressions that have been left behind by our ancestors. and by animals that are now completely extinct. Mammoths and mastodons went extinct during the Younger Dryas, but there are their footprints from 23,000 years ago side by side with the footprints of human beings.

And it goes down for meters under the ground. So you have a very deep stratification of these impressions that have been left behind by our ancestors. and by animals that are now completely extinct. Mammoths and mastodons went extinct during the Younger Dryas, but there are their footprints from 23,000 years ago side by side with the footprints of human beings.

It's very intimate to see a footprint, to see those five toes, to see the heel mark. To see sometimes a child walking beside a mother, that's there in the record as well. It's quite something special. And it opens the door. Archaeology has been very reluctant to accept a much older peopling of the Americas than previously was held. It was held for a long time, but it was about 13,000 years ago.

It's very intimate to see a footprint, to see those five toes, to see the heel mark. To see sometimes a child walking beside a mother, that's there in the record as well. It's quite something special. And it opens the door. Archaeology has been very reluctant to accept a much older peopling of the Americas than previously was held. It was held for a long time, but it was about 13,000 years ago.

It's very intimate to see a footprint, to see those five toes, to see the heel mark. To see sometimes a child walking beside a mother, that's there in the record as well. It's quite something special. And it opens the door. Archaeology has been very reluctant to accept a much older peopling of the Americas than previously was held. It was held for a long time, but it was about 13,000 years ago.

They've abandoned that now. They did cling on tooth and nail for decades, but that's been abandoned. It's accepted that human beings came here long before 13,000 years ago. And White Sands is one of the places which provides just absolute definite irrefutable evidence of that, that they were here 23,000 years ago. But we don't know yet how long before that they were here.

They've abandoned that now. They did cling on tooth and nail for decades, but that's been abandoned. It's accepted that human beings came here long before 13,000 years ago. And White Sands is one of the places which provides just absolute definite irrefutable evidence of that, that they were here 23,000 years ago. But we don't know yet how long before that they were here.

They've abandoned that now. They did cling on tooth and nail for decades, but that's been abandoned. It's accepted that human beings came here long before 13,000 years ago. And White Sands is one of the places which provides just absolute definite irrefutable evidence of that, that they were here 23,000 years ago. But we don't know yet how long before that they were here.

This is part of the problem. I often remember a site called the Cerruti Mastodon site in San Diego. I went to see – the exhibits are in the San Diego Natural History Museum and I talked with the expert there, Dr. Tom Demaree. And they are convinced that they are looking at human traces there. It was a butchering of a mastodon.

This is part of the problem. I often remember a site called the Cerruti Mastodon site in San Diego. I went to see – the exhibits are in the San Diego Natural History Museum and I talked with the expert there, Dr. Tom Demaree. And they are convinced that they are looking at human traces there. It was a butchering of a mastodon.

This is part of the problem. I often remember a site called the Cerruti Mastodon site in San Diego. I went to see – the exhibits are in the San Diego Natural History Museum and I talked with the expert there, Dr. Tom Demaree. And they are convinced that they are looking at human traces there. It was a butchering of a mastodon.

But the way the bones were broken and the marrow was extracted, they don't see any other way that this could have been done except by human beings. The thing is – It's 130,000 years old, not 23,000 years old, not 13,000 years old, but 130,000 years old. And, you know, this opens the possibility that human beings have been in the Americas before they were in Europe.

But the way the bones were broken and the marrow was extracted, they don't see any other way that this could have been done except by human beings. The thing is – It's 130,000 years old, not 23,000 years old, not 13,000 years old, but 130,000 years old. And, you know, this opens the possibility that human beings have been in the Americas before they were in Europe.