The Zapata Footprint: A 290-Million-Year-Old Claim That Doesn't Add Up
by Ivan Petricevic
The Zapata Footprint is a supposed human footprint found embedded in a Permian rock in New Mexico. Sometimes called the New Mexico track or the Zapata track, it's become the center of several conspiracy theories over the years.
A Permian Mystery?
Those who believe the footprint is genuine argue it's the ultimate proof that humans walked the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, brushing aside what modern science actually tells us.
According to experts, one of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, evolved over 4 million years ago. As the Smithsonian notes, humans first evolved in Africa, and most of human evolution took place on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa. Early humans didn't migrate out of Africa into Asia until somewhere between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago.
They reached Europe even later, between 1.5 million and 1 million years ago. Modern humans spread to other parts of the world later still. People likely first arrived in Australia within the past 60,000 years, and in the Americas within the past 30,000 years or so. (Source: humanorigins.si.edu, retrieved 5/10/2019)
But…
The footprint itself has never actually undergone scientific study. Even so, it's been presented as a genuine Permian-era print.
During the Permian, the world was made up of two continents, Pangaea and Siberia, surrounded by a single global ocean called Panthalassa.
One of the main people arguing the footprint is real is Dr. Don Patton, who, according to his own website, worked as a geologist across the US, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Jordan, Israel, and Turkey.
Patton also claims archaeological work on projects in the United States, Mexico, Peru, France, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Cambodia, and Turkey. Impressive resume, on paper. But the degrees and PhD he lists trace back to unaccredited Christian institutions with no real academic standing.
A 290-Million-Year-Old Footprint
Patton claims the footprint was first identified in 1987 by paleontologist Jerry MacDonald, who uncovered fossilized tracks from numerous animal and bird species in Permian strata dating between 290 and 248 million years old. The mysterious footprint was supposedly one of them.
That story doesn't hold up well, though.
Many of the tracks MacDonald found were already controversial, since several resembled prints from animals that wouldn't exist for millions of years, including creatures similar to modern birds and bears. The Permian predates the dinosaurs entirely, let alone anything resembling a modern bird or mammal.
In fact, there's no actual evidence that MacDonald ever found this particular footprint. Every detail tying him to its discovery comes straight from Patton's own writing.
Despite the attention it's drawn from fringe researchers because of its supposed age, the footprint has never been shown to be authentic. Author Glen J. Kuban has pointed out that it lacks several features you'd expect in a real human print.
Don Patton with the alleged “Zapata Track”.
Kuban notes that the toes are aligned and positioned unnaturally, and that the ball of the foot is narrower and rounder than what you'd see in genuine prints. He also points out that a skilled carver could easily produce something like this simply by carving away rock around a shape, no real footprint required.
A 290-Million-Year-Old Footprint: A story that doesn't hold water
Because no real research has ever been done on it, and because it's never attracted serious scientific attention, the footprint has largely been written off as a talking point for creationist arguments rather than a genuine archaeological find.
What's especially concerning is that the footprint has been cut out of the surrounding bedrock, as shown in Patton's own photos.
Given how bold Patton and his supporters' claims are, it's telling that no scientific studies on the footprint have ever been published. There's no published information about the geology or paleontology of the rock formation it supposedly came from either.
What we do know is that the footprint sits on a loose, disconnected block of stone. No one has ever presented evidence that it was part of a walking sequence or connected to any actual Permian formation.
In photos showing Patton next to the imprint, the footprint appears to sit on its own separate slab, more consistent with a plaster cast than an in-situ fossil print, something Glen J. Kuban has pointed out as well.
So where does that leave things? The 290-million-year-old footprint Patton presents has never been proven to be an actual human footprint. There's also no real evidence the rock even came from a Permian formation to begin with.
Without solid data, without published studies, and without credible evidence of its origin, this footprint is little more than a curiosity, not proof that humans were walking the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago.
