The footprints were real physical evidence — not stone tools that could potentially be misidentified as human-made, not pollen samples or sediment chemistry that required multiple steps of interpretation, but the actual impressions of human feet in ancient mud.

The anatomical details visible in the better-preserved tracks were consistent with modern human foot morphology.

The trackways showed recognizable human walking behavior.

The site was not someone’s imaginative interpretation of ambiguous evidence; it was relatively straightforward in its identification of human presence.

The caution focused on the dating, and the concern was technically specific.

The seeds of Ruppia cirrhosa used for radiocarbon dating are aquatic plant material.