Palaeontology

800,000-year-old human footprints discovered

By T.K. Randall
February 7, 2014 ·  34 comments

The team worked to document the footprints. Image Credit: YouTube / Natural History Museum The footprints were discovered after tidal sand erosion had revealed a set of unusual hallows in the underlying rock. Researchers battled both the elements and the clock to document the prints as best they could before the waves washed them away completely.Described by Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum as one of the most important discoveries ever made on the shores of Britain, the footprints are thought to belong to an early species of human that lived in Europe and made its way to the British Isles across a land bridge that once existed over the English Channel.

"When I was told about the footprints, I was absolutely stunned," said Dr Isabelle De Groote who conducted an analysis of the prints from 3D scans. "They appear to have been made by one adult male who was about 5ft 9in (175cm) tall and the shortest was about 3ft. The other larger footprints could come from young adult males or have been left by females."


Source: BBC News | Comments (34)

Tags: Early Man, Human