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New evidence on a muddy beach pushes the dates further back.
https://archaeology.co.uk/articles/n...in-norfolk.htm
Earliest human footprints outside Africa found – in Norfolk
February 7, 2014
2 mins read
These footprint hollows, shown in situ on the beach at Happisburgh, Norfolk, are the oldest human footprints known from outside Africa.
Photo: Martin Bates Archaeologists have found the earliest human footprints known outside Africa, at Happisburgh on the Norfolk coast.
Dating back 800,000 years, the prints are thought to have been made by five individuals, including both adults and children.
They were identified by a team of scientists led by the British Museum, Natural History Museum, and Queen Mary University of London, after heavy seas removed beach sands to reveal a series of hollows in the silt at low tide.
Analysis of digital images of these hollows confirmed that they were ancient human footprints, direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. In some cases the prints were so clear that the heel, arch, and even toes could be identified.
‘At first we weren’t sure what we were seeing, but as we sponged off the seawater, it was clear that the hollows resembled prints, perhaps human footprints, and that we needed to record the surface as quickly as possible before the sea eroded it away.’
Vertical image of Area A at Happisburgh with model of footprint surface produced from photogrammetric survey with enlarged photo of footprint 8 showing toe impressions.
© Happisburgh Project He added: ‘This is an extraordinarily rare discovery. The Happisburgh site continues to re-write our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain, and indeed, of Europe.’
The Happisburgh footprints are among the oldest found in the world to-date; only those at Laetoli in Tanzania (c.3.5 million years old) and at Koobi Fora in Tanzania (c.1.5 million years old) are earlier.
February 7, 2014
2 mins read
These footprint hollows, shown in situ on the beach at Happisburgh, Norfolk, are the oldest human footprints known from outside Africa.Photo: Martin Bates Archaeologists have found the earliest human footprints known outside Africa, at Happisburgh on the Norfolk coast.
Dating back 800,000 years, the prints are thought to have been made by five individuals, including both adults and children.
They were identified by a team of scientists led by the British Museum, Natural History Museum, and Queen Mary University of London, after heavy seas removed beach sands to reveal a series of hollows in the silt at low tide.
Analysis of digital images of these hollows confirmed that they were ancient human footprints, direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. In some cases the prints were so clear that the heel, arch, and even toes could be identified.
‘At first we weren’t sure what we were seeing, but as we sponged off the seawater, it was clear that the hollows resembled prints, perhaps human footprints, and that we needed to record the surface as quickly as possible before the sea eroded it away.’
Vertical image of Area A at Happisburgh with model of footprint surface produced from photogrammetric survey with enlarged photo of footprint 8 showing toe impressions.© Happisburgh Project He added: ‘This is an extraordinarily rare discovery. The Happisburgh site continues to re-write our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain, and indeed, of Europe.’
The Happisburgh footprints are among the oldest found in the world to-date; only those at Laetoli in Tanzania (c.3.5 million years old) and at Koobi Fora in Tanzania (c.1.5 million years old) are earlier.
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