Creation Science Rebuttals

     Evolutionists are said to be unhappy with these footprints, becuase they were dated via OSL at about 40,000 years old.  Current thought is that the first humans in North America was the "Clovis" people, around 12,000 years ago.  Obviously, this would move back human habitation of the Americas by 28,000 years. 

     Other evolutionists apparently redated the volcanic ash using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method, and obtained a date of about 1.3 million years.  The people behind this new date claim that the markings are not hominid...they are just markings from some undetermined source.

     Concerning these two opposing viewpoints, Answers in Genesis claims that these evolutionists are in a dating war.  The team suggesting the 40,000 year date is currently dating the material again, using various methods, and we eagerly await the outcome of this dating.

     There is one previous data point that Menton refers to.  He says this is similar to the debate between footprints in Tanzania, also in volcanic ash, which were dated at 3.5 million years old.  These were declared to be made by an ape-like creature, and not a hominid. 

     Menton surprisingly sums up this article like this..."Pity the evolutionists: they can’t force ape feet into the Laetoli footprints and they can’t pull human feet out of the Mexican foot prints."  This final statement seems to indicate that he does not believe the Mexican prints are human.  However, he provides nothing to counter the argument that they are human!  If this is true, he is relying solely on the data from Renne, who relied solely on the redating to 1.3 million years, and the assumption that this was too old to be human footprints.  Earlier, he said the footprints are "No surprise for biblical creationists so far."  Does he or does he not believe these are human footprints?

     One is left wondering exactly what Answers in Genesis believes.  The whole point of their article is that evolutionists cannot agree on these footprints, and apparently neither can Answers in Genesis.

     Although the evolutionists involved are undecided, neither position (40,000 years, or 1.3 million years) presents an insurmountable obstacle for old earth creationists.  If humans were in the Americas 40,000 years ago, that is no problem.  We have no other evidence of their presence, but that does not mean that they were not here.  These were probably pre-Adamic hominids.