Researchers have uncovered 800,000-year old footprints imprinted on the shores of Happisburgh in the Norfolk Coast of England. They believe that these are evidences of the earliest human settlers of Europe.
The footprints were first seen May of 2012 when a low tide revealed the imprints along the shore. The hollows, which reveal the outline of the footprints, appeared after the waves from the sea eroded the beach. Although these hollows were quickly washed away after they appeared, the researchers, led by Dr. Nick Ashton of the British Museum, were able to document the images and capture a video recording of them.
The video, which will be shown at the London's Natural History Museum on February, features the researchers taking photos of the footprints to make a 3D presentation out of it. Dr. Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool John Moores University analyzed the footprints and confirmed that they were indeed left by human beings.
This rare finding has important implications on the evolution of man, as they are the only physical evidence of that era in Europe. According to BBC News, there are only three sets of footprints which are older than the Happisburgh footprints, all of which were found in Africa.
The analysis also revealed that the footprints belonged to at most five people, consisting of a male adult and several children.
"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. The glimpse of the past that we are seeing is that we have a family group moving together across the landscape." De Groote said to BBC.
The owners of the footprints were not yet known, although one suggestion claims that they could be from the Homo antecessor species believed to be the earliest human inhabitants in Europe dating up to 1.2 million years ago. Though the researchers didn't find any fossil in Happisburgh, they were positive that they will uncover more evidence of the antecessor's existence in Southern Europe soon.
Findings of this exciting discovery were published in the Feb. 7 issue of PLOS One.
