How Long Do Fingerprints Last After You Die? — OK Whatever

But completely obliterating your fingerprints is hard to do. Either the ridges in the skin grow back or investigators can use other parts of your body to determine your identity.

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That’s right; you don’t just have prints on your fingers, but on your toes, palms, and the soles of your feet, too. And even chopping off your fingertips comes with risks. If you don’t cut it below the nail bed, studies have shown your amputated digit can heal itself and reform with time.

Marks left by fingerprints on surfaces are also remarkably durable. Though there’s no consensus on just how long a print can last, researchers have reported finding ones that are centuries old.

One of the oldest known fingerprints to date was discovered in 2004 on a ceramic Venus figurine from eastern Europe. Scientists were able to identify a print that they believed to be more than 25,000 years old.