The earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Norfolk, UK

by Earnest 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  Earnest

  Footprints found in ancient estuary mud are thought to be over 800,000 years old.

  The British Museum, which is part of the Happisburgh Project, reports:

  The discovery was made on the foreshore at low tide where heavy seas had removed the beach sand to reveal the normally flat estuarine muds. But in one area a series of elongated hollows were cut into the compacted silts. It was only after recording the surface through photogrammetry that confirmed these were indeed ancient human footprints.

  Within two weeks the prints had eroded away, but analyses of the digital images show in some cases the heel, arch and even toes of a range of adults and children. Measurement of the prints suggests that their heights varied from about 0.9 m to over 1.7 m and they appear to have been heading in a southerly direction.

  These latest discoveries are part of the Happisburgh Project, which since 2004 has revealed evidence of the landscape and environment of Britain at that time, together with the fossils, plant remains and stone tools made by these early humans.

  So who were they? Unfortunately there are no human bones from Britain of this age, but the most likely candidate is Homo antecessor or ‘Pioneer Man’. Bones of this early human species have been found at the contemporary site of Atapuerca in northern Spain. The importance of the Happisburgh footprints is the very tangible link they give to our forebears from the deep past.

  A more detailed report can be accessed in PLOS ONE journal.
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  cofty

  Thank you. I heard a headline about this on the radio news today.
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  Earnest

  Don't think for a moment that I believe the 800,000 years figure (without any bones) !
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  cofty

  Why not?
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  LongHairGal

  Earnest:

  I just read this article.

  It may possibly be that we were told wrong stories about how humanity originated. I remember reading somewhere that there is a belief there were civilizations that came and went before the Flood and this may be the third or fourth time around. So, who knows?
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  designs

  Where the footprints outside a Pub...
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  Earnest

  Cofty, for a serious discussion on this I would need to read much more on the dating of the footprints but my comment was partially tongue-in-cheek because we both know each others viewpoints, which are not always reconcilable.

  However, in a serious discussion I would not maintain that footprints cannot be dated stratigraphically without any bones.
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  cofty

  LHG - What flood?
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  ballistic

  Where the footprints outside a Pub...

  No, but most of our lanes, green lanes, old roads and path ways follow old tracks and routes made by people on foot from the early days of pubs, and this is why driving through the country lanes of Great Britain can make you very dizzy as you navigate the twists and turns. It's true. :0
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  cofty

  Ballistic - living in rural northern parts I love to discover old paths and wonder why people used to walk those routes. Some of the most ancient routes became paved and still exist, others fell into disuse but can still be seen in the landscape.

  I have prints of 3 old maps of my location on my wall in front of me now from 1610, 1769 and 1828