The Human Footprints of Acahualinca

The Footprints of Acahualinca incorporate a double record: 1) they provide anthropomorphic traces and cultural characteristics of early human occupation of Central America. Debated to be between 2,000 and 8,000 years old (Brown, 1947; Bryan, 1973; Schmincke et al., 2009; Sachiko, 2017), the more recent work indicates that the older dates are more likely. 2) they record active geodynamics associated with intense explosive volcanism, including huge Masaya Volcano basaltic ignimbrites, and activity in the Managua Graben, a pull-apart structure in the Nicaraguan Depression.
The footprints were discovered in 1874 (Flint, 1884; Chávez, 1920). In 1953 the Footprints of Acahualinca Museum was founded. The site is protected under Nicaraguan law. Footprints of about 16 adults and children can be seen. There are over 1,000 fossil footprints of humans and animals, as well as evidence of flora, all preserved under a 4 meter thick sequence of tuff. This stratigraphy is a type sequence for the region, including globally important basaltic ignimbrite surge deposits from the Masaya volcano and the nearby Nejapa Volcanic alignment. The Acahualinca Footprints record a unique geological-cultural lakeside landscape outstanding in their evidence of humans associated with important water sources in an active volcanic and tectonic environment.