A team of researchers in Morocco announced the discovery of 85 traces of human feet as early as 2022. According to them, the tracks "tell" about the journey of Homo sapiens about 90,000 years ago.
Specialists of coastal dynamics and geomorphology of the University of South Brittany in France studied one of the Moroccan beaches. Just as they were waiting for the tides to change, they discovered mysterious human footprints on a nearby beach.
nature.com
The main reason for the preservation of these traces was the unique natural environment. The rocky platform with clay deposits was almost untouched by time, because this area was bypassed by the tides.
Recent studies have made it possible to study these traces in more detail and draw appropriate conclusions. Optically stimulated luminescence was used to precisely determine their age: to determine when the quartz in the sand was last exposed to the sun. This method made it possible to establish that people walked this beach during the late Pleistocene, about 90,000 years ago.
nature.com
The analysis of the size of the foot and the pressure of the step made it possible to establish that among these traces there are traces of children, teenagers and adults. This gives additional information about what the social structures and living conditions were like at that time.
Currently, it remains unknown what was the purpose of the journey of the people who left these traces. However, the researchers hope that further analysis will provide more answers.
nature.com
Source: nature.com
