The recognition of this gap has changed how some researchers approach the question of ancient American populations.

Rather than assuming that the current archaeological record represents a reasonably complete picture of early human presence, archaeologists are increasingly working to identify environments and site types where older material might have survived — underwater sites, cave deposits, lake sediments — and applying new methods to extract older records from those contexts.

White Sands is, in this sense, a proof of concept.

It demonstrated that evidence from the Last Glacial Maximum can survive in the right geological context.

It raises the question of where other such contexts might exist, and what they might contain.

The Park That Holds The Evidence