Use of magnetometry for detecting and documenting multi-species Pleistocene megafauna tracks at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, U.S.A

Abstract

Tracks and trackways of a range of Pleistocene megafauna can be found in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, U.S.A. These tracks occur is several forms, not all of which are visible and some of which are only intermittently visible depending on lighting and moisture conditions. Here we present the result of a successful test of cesium vapor magnetometry to detect a known Columbian mammoth trackway. This initial test found that not only the known mammoth tracks were easily detected by the method, but that the tracks of additional species, though not visible to the eye, were detected in the vicinity of the mammoth tracks, including likely giant sloth tracks. Our initial results indicate that resolution may be suitable to distinguish between the tracks of various species, including possibly humans which are known archaeologically to have overlapped temporally with these species in the southwestern U.S. This preliminary result has immediate implications for the detection and documentation of Pleistocene track sites, and further refinement of the procedure is planned in the coming months.