More than 10,000 years ago, a woman or young man made 2 trips separated by at least several hours, carrying a toddler in one direction. Their trackway, now New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, stretch for 1.5km and consists of more than 400 human prints.

Rain may have pelted the traveler’s face as their bare feet slid on the mud. They paused to briefly set the toddler on the ground before pressing on; a wooly mammoth and giant sloth ambled across their freshly laid tracks. Several hours later, the traveler followed the same route south, this time empty-handed.

The trackway consists of more than 400 human prints, including several tiny child prints, as described in a new study published in Quaternary Science Reviews. By analyzing the shape, structure, and spread of the tracks the research team unveiled an intimate portrait of one ancient person’s walk across the landscape, right down to their toes slipping on the slick surface.

White Sands National Park contains a treasure trove of fossilized human and animal footprints.

Tens of thousands of years ago, during the ice age, a giant body of water, Lake Otero, rested within the Tularosa basin. The climate was less arid, and the vegetation was abundant. One could have seen grasslands stretching for miles that would have looked more like the prairies of the Midwest rather than New Mexico’s deserts.

This paradise of lush green life naturally captured the attention of the larger animals of the ice age. Plant eaters such as ancient camels, Columbian mammoths and Harlan’s ground sloth came to Lake Otero to feast on the grasses and trees of the Tularosa Basin. This attracted fearsome predators known as the dire wolf and American Lion. These animals’ footprints remained long after their departure of the wetlands of Lake Otero and eventually became fossilized.

In 2018, researchers discovered what they believe to be footprints of a female. They tell a story that may seem familiar today; her footprints show her walking for almost a mile, with a toddler’s footprints occasionally showing up beside hers. Evidence suggests that she carried the child, shifting them from side to side and occasionally setting the child down as they walked. The footprints broadened and slipped in the mud as a result of the additional weight she was carrying.