Footprints and Footwear

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Footprints and Footwear" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Worldwide, fossil human footprint site discoveries are accelerating, with new discoveries in Europe, on the Cape Coast of Africa and the Americas. Footprint evidence is improving our knowledge of human presence, behavioral interactions with extinct megafauna, and human migration. This is particularly true of the Americas where recent dating of human footprints to the last glacial maximum has fueled controversy about the peopling of the Americas. This session will take a broad perspective on this new field of ichno-archaeology and will invite participants from Europe, Africa and the Americas to share knowledge of footprints. We invite contributions from the fields of biomechanics, experimental footprint studies, dating of footprint sites and combine them with experts in perishable materials and ancient footwear. We will adopt an innovative meeting style, accepting not just western science-based abstracts, but also the Indigenous knowledge and viewpoints on the footprint record so that they can share their perspective on this type of evidence, its interpretation and cultural importance. Funds will be available to support some participation of European experts and those from nonacademic Indigenous backgrounds. We plan an open access book based on contributions in due course.

Other Keywords
Experimental Archaeology • Remote Sensing/Geophysics • Digital Archaeology: Photogrammetry • Worldwide

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)

  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • Exploration of White Sands' Human Trackways Using Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Abigail Hunt.

    This is an abstract from the "Footprints and Footwear" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The dating of fossil human footprints at White Sands in New Mexico to the Last Glacial Maximum brings into focus the nature of the environment at this time, and the potential resource attractors. There is already a rich body of research into the paleoenvironments which explores this climate period. In this paper, we will review this work by producing a new...

  • Implications of Ancient Footwear Variability for Inferring Behavior from Artifacts, Impressions, and Ichnology (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Edward Jolie.

    This is an abstract from the "Footprints and Footwear" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ichnological (trace fossil) record and negative impressions of perishable technologies left in plastic media comprise two underutilized lines of evidence for reconstructing ancient perishable material culture. Technological and morphological variability in archaeological and ethnographic Indigenous American footwear provide a starting point for generating...

  • In the Absence of Material Culture: An Archaeological Perspective on the Ancient Human Footprints From White Sands National Park, New Mexico (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Hannah Strehlau.

    This is an abstract from the "Footprints and Footwear" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Fossilized human footprints at White Sands, dated to between 23,000 and 21,000 years BP, have attracted scientists from various disciplines since their discovery. The tracks have been dated, biometric inferences from specific tracks have been made, and trackway kinematics explored. So far, no material culture has been found or associated with this ichnological...

  • Investigating the Morphology of Shod Footprints: An Experimental Approach. (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Maryon.

    This is an abstract from the "Footprints and Footwear" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeological record for ancient shoes is minimal, due to their organic composition and therefore perishable nature. Comparatively, fossil footprints have a better record of preservation. Therefore, to ascertain the longevity of footwear, the best chance of doing so is through the identification of shod footprints. Here, an experimental approach was used to...

  • Using Ground Penetrating Radar to Map Ancient Footprints (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Everett.

    This is an abstract from the "Footprints and Footwear" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Geophysical techniques have been widely used in archaeology for the detection of buried structures, cut features, stratigraphic layers and, more recently, fossilised footprints. Previous results from the application of these techniques within ichnology has allowed tracks to be mapped that are invisible to the naked eye allowing behaviour and interactions between...