Nearly 1-million-year-old European footprints found
Impressions of possible Neandertal ancestors make waves in England
By Bruce Bower
Footprints of ancient human ancestors at a Stone Age site on England’s southeastern coast emerged briefly only to be eroded away by the sea. At least five individuals created the prints between 1 million and 780,000 years ago, say archaeologist Nick Ashton of the British Museum in London and his colleagues.
The footprints were discovered and photographed in May 2013, the researchers report February 7 in PLOS ONE. A low tide at England’s Happisburgh site revealed that heavy seas had worn away layers of hardened silt, exposing a stretch of footprint-covered sediment.