The Loma Linda Study: A Forgotten Piece in the Paluxy Narrative

Cross-section of a genuine dinosaur track obtained by Loma Linda University in the 1970s, showing evidence of compression just below the surface, which is absent in carved tracks (c. Neufeld, Origins, 1975)

I wanted to share a brief post about a study completed by Loma Linda University in the 1970s on the controversial Paluxy tracks. (Check out the articles here and here for a brief summary of some of the key notes on the Paluxy controversy, or Glen Kuban's summaries here and here for a more detailed look).

The current narrative among supporters of the Paluxy human-track interpretation is that the evidence of the track's "human-ness" is strong evidence against the theory of evolution and that those holding to atheistic evolution reject the clear evidence of the tracks being human because of their philosophical presuppositions. (Rakowsky, 2022) In his 1991 Dinosaur: Scientific Evidence That Dinosaurs and Men Walked Together, human-track advocate Carl Baugh characterizes looking for alternate explanations for the tracks, such as their being made by some kind of animal or that they are carvings, are just attempts to avoid "...(accepting) the facts as they are and to recognize that these are human footprints - toes and all." (p. 4) He continues:

"Science" has established that dinosaurs died out sixty-four million years ago so there is no point in investigating further. So we are told. Thus it is that minds are too often closed against new evidence when it touches "sacred cows". Let an anthropologist show a newfound bone claimed to be human and two million years old and he will be featured in press and radio. But let him show authentic pictures of dinosaur and human footprints found together and he will be either ignored as an ignoramus or attacked as a menace to established science... (p. 7)

Helfinstine and Roth, in the introduction of their 2007 defense of the Paluxy human tracks, establish that they are operating from the philosophical assumptions of young earth creationism, and that:

Presuppositions are an important part of research and analysis because they have a significant impact on conclusions reached. (p. 12) For those who have differing philosophical  views and presuppositions, it is apparent that their expectations will not coincide with ours. (p. 13)

Despite being a popular stance among the human-track advocates since the 1980s, it has never been true. 

The first scientific investigation conducted into whether or not the Paluxy River held any human tracks or whether the human tracks in loose stone were genuine was conducted by the young earth creationist Loma Linda University, through a team composed of Berney Neufeld (professor of biology, research fellow of the Geoscience Research Center), Leonard Brand (professor of biology and paleontology, past chair of Loma Linda's Department of Earth and Biological Sciences), and Arthur Chadwick (research professor of biology and geology, co-director of the Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center of Southwestern Adventist University). (Kuban, 2022) The team (composed of young earth creationists) conducted field studies in the Paluxy River where human tracks had been reported - they also obtained loose tracks supposed to be human (and even cat) from Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) and human track advocate Clifford Burdick. They mapped and studied the river tracks and sectioned the loose tracks to look for underlying compression layering in the rock that would confirm them as genuine or carvings. They concluded that there were no genuine human tracks in the river - the supposed human tracks actually being badly eroded dinosaur tracks that had barely visible claws or random erosion marks, and that the loose tracks often pointed to as human tracks were carvings based on the lack of underlying compression layers when the tracks were sectioned. (Neufeld, 1975a) (Chadwick, 1987) In an article published in Ministry, Neufeld clarified that the various photos that showed human tracks in the river were often just water/oil outlines that had been painted on for contrast, and did not reflect the actual track itself. (1975b) All of this was concluded nearly a decade before the man track claims would truly take off.

Neufeld also points out that this conclusion (that there are no genuine human tracks from the Paluxy) was reached by many believers who all held the same starting presuppositions of young earth creationism and a human-dinosaur coexistence:

...there is no firm evidence (in the more usual scientific sense of the word) for the existence of fossil human (or other large mammal) tracks in this area. No less than a dozen scientists from at least six Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions...have visited the site and examined the tracks that may be seen there. Not one of these persons has found in these tracks convincing evidence for human footprints, although all of them have no doubt that humans and dinosaurs lived contemporaneously. (1975b)

The Loma Linda study was left out of most of the promotional material to come out about the Paluxy man-tracks in the coming years, and it's understandable given that it totally refutes the idea that the only reason someone would not accept them as human is because of "evolutionary" presuppositions. (Hastings, 1988) Without taking into account the rejection of the Paluxy man-track model by nearly all contemporary mainstream young earth creationist groups (i.e., Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International, the Institute for Creation Research, etc.), the Loma Linda Paluxy study stands as the earliest example against the human-track advocates' idea that starting presuppositions are the only hindrance to accepting their interpretation as objective, and deserves more recognition in ongoing dialogue.

References

Baugh, C. (1991) Dinosaur: Scientific Evidence That Dinosaurs and Men Walked Together (2nd edition). Promise Publishing Co.

Chadwick, A. V. (1987) Of Dinosaurs and Men. Origins, 14(1), 33-40.

Hastings, R. J. (1988) The Rise and Fall of the Paluxy Mantracks. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 40(3), 145-155.

Kuban, G. (2022) On the Heels of Dinosaurs: A Brief History of the Paluxy "Man Tracks" Controversy. paleo.cc.

Neufeld, B. (1975) Dinosaur Tracks and Giant Men. Origins, 2(2), 64-75.

Neufeld, B. (1975) "Footprints in Stone". Ministry.

Rakowsky, A. (2022) Tracking Humans on the Cretaceous Rocks of Texas' Paluxy River. The Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation.