In the complex business of trying to find human tracks in the evolutionary record, there seems to be some dispute. What were reported to be human footprints in the ash of a volcano are being contested as to their cause and their date of origin.

Two researchers, Michael Waters and Paul Renne, claim that prints found in Mexico and first dated to be 1.3 million years old are actually marks made by the tools of modern workers who quarry the stone with crowbars.

On the other hand, Silvia Gonzalez, an archaeologist from Liverpool's John Moores University, claims that the prints were formed in sediments that date from 9,000 to 40,000 years ago. Gonzalez' team of archaeologists continues to excavate; team members do not believe the footprints to be formed by modern workers (Bradley Lepper, "Cloud of Scholarly Dust Rises Over Ancient Footprints Claim," The Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 31).

This interesting quibble adds detail to a larger issue, which is the varying degree of accuracy of dating methods. Many have become critical of claims made in the interest of evolutionary ideology and are wary of manipulation or mistaken facts. For more information, request or download Creation or Evolution: Does It Really Matter What You Believe?.