In 1976 famed anthropologist Mary Leaky discovered 70 human footprints in stone in Tanzania known as the Laetoli tracks. Leaky felt they looked like they were made by modern human beings, but that created a problem. The depressions left by our ancestors were in a stratum dated at 3.6 million years. No modern human could have laid down that track since we were not around yet according to evolution.
What happens when evidence doesn’t support a theory?
In spite of Mary Leaky’s declaration of a modern look to the prints, notice what happens when evidence seems to contradict the evolutionary model. Enter the scientists, scrutinizing the prints (as they should) but looking for an alternative explanation one that will. Some said the prints resembled a humanoid like creature,. Others thought the prints were from another creature altogether. In the end they concluded that a type of Lucy – half man, half monkey like being were responsible for these tracks. Phew! Evolution was safe again – end of story.
But could these several million year old imprints in stone simply be as they appear – from a modern human? To the scientific community it’s unthinkable and unacceptable. Why? Because they would have to conclude that:
A.) Modern man is much older than we have thought
B.) or that our dating techniques are faulty.
Either way, there is a big problem for scientists. So…”interpretation of the evidence” then becomes an important tool that often comes to their rescue.
This is not the first set of prints that have attempted to shake up the evolutionary apple cart. The Taylor Track, Burdick Track, Zapata Track and more all are begging to dethrone evolutions iron grip on the answer to the human origins question “How did we arrive to where we are today?” Did we evolve over millions of years through environmental pressures and positive mutations? Were our ancestors alien like creatures from outer space, with advanced genetics and technology who assisted our race? Or are we the product of special creation as outlined in Genesis? These footprints stamped in time help solve this ancient mystery.
Because there is much ground to cover and many opinions on the tracks around the world let’s take a look at the most controversial track site in the world, The Paluxy River Bed in Glen Rose Texas. Many people say they are giant man footprints while others disagree. To positively identify the maker of a footprint is not an easy task and can be downright frustrating. When a depression that resembles a footprint is found there are four possibilities it can be:
1.) It’s a footprint
2.) It’s a natural formation.
3.) It’s a carved human footprint, a fake or work of art.
4.) Animal footprint, which has been altered geologically to appear human.
Recently I spoke by phone to co-author Grover Gibbs of the book Valley of the Giants, who is 87 years young and still runs his real estate office. He had explored the region of the Paluxy River ever since he was a kid. Growing up he worked at the general store. Occasionally the owner would let young Grover give tours to people who wanted to see the dinosaur tracks. Amazed at what they beheld, some gave the little boy tips of $.25 and $.50 each. Not bad pay for a kid in the 1930’s.
In the late 60’s C.N. Doughtery (co-author of Valley of the Giants) moved to the Glen Rose area and began to hear the same stories of the tracks. But these stories included large man tracks. In their book he explains that when asking the locals how big the human tracks were they would slowly spread their hands apart till about the 18-24 inch mark.
Could man once have been 12 feet tall?
Doughtery walked the river month after month waiting for the right conditions to spot these alleged goliath sized impressions. Two years later his efforts paid off and spotted not one but two giant men tracks. The prints measured 21 and one half inches long and 8 inches across the toes with a seven foot stride from heal to heal. Go ahead and measure across your toes and see what do you get. I have a size 12 EEE foot and it is 4 inches across by 11 inches long. I’m 6’2″ tall and my stride from heal to heal is a little over 2 feet with a normal walking gate. If you do the math you will see that a man with 22 inch feet and a 7-foot step would be approximately 12 foot tall!
But were these human tracks? Doughtery was convinced till his grave. Grover still attests to their authenticity and their book photos are very convincing. If they are really giant humans, they present a huge problem and threat to the scientific community. Here’s why:
1.) If the tracks are millions of years old, why haven’t they eroded away millions of years ago? Running water over a print for 65 million years should have erased these prints so long ago. Since they were not eroded away, could it mean that they were placed down recently perhaps as people fled the raising waters of the flood?
2.) The dino tracks are in the same limestone strata as the man tracks which means dinos and men lived at the same time and not 60 million years apart as evolution teaches.
3.) A human with a seven foot stride and 21 inch feet means that at least one 12 foot giant man lived at some point in prehistory.
If you simply take the evidence at face value, then giant humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time in the recent past. If it doesn’t agree with your view of history then chances are you will try to explain away the footprints as not human or re-date them. Here is a case in point.
In 2003 scientists found footprints in volcanic ash in southern Mexico. At first they dated them as 40,000 years old. However, that posed a problem since mankind had supposedly not migrated to that area until about 11,000 years ago. Over the following year this date of 40,000 years old was challenged. Soon after the date of the ash magically changed to an acceptable 12,000 years old to maintain the accepted human migration patterns already established by science.
What if the footprints are from a modern human?
The implications of the Paluxy river footprints are significant. Dinosaurs and giant human tracks in the same strata imply that:
A.) Evolution has to rewrite its theories and timelines so that humans and dinosaurs lived contemporaneously.
B.) Aliens seem less likely as an explanation for our existence.
C.) Greater confidence can be put in the book of Genesis, which states that God created all living things in 6 days.
Modern human footprints in stone agree with Genesis.
If a footprint in stone does not appear to be made by a modern type human then it is not a problem for evolution. A footprint from an apelike creature in stone poses no problem. If the footprints around the world seem modern then they support Genesis. Were these footprints in ash and stone caught as the world heaved during the Flood? Is the fact that they are next to dinosaurs indicate we lived at the same time as the giant plants, insects and animals of the ancient world? The first several chapters of Genesis talk of man being giants. Goliath and the King of Bashan give us glimpses of these giants by placing them at approx. 10-12 feet tall. Does that mean we came from a noble race that has de-evolved to what we are today?
