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Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
For more Latest and Breaking New...
published: 07 Feb 2014
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk For more Latest and Breaking News Headlines SUBSCRIBE to http://www.youtube.com/user/24X7BreakingNEWS Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk Coast in the East of England. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh. They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. Details of the extraordinary markings have been published in the science journal Plos One. The footprints have been described as "one of the most important discoveries, if not the most important discovery that has been made on [Britain's] shores," by Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum. "It will rewrite our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain and indeed of Europe," he told BBC News. The markings were first indentified in May last year during a low tide. Rough seas had eroded the sandy beach to reveal a series of elongated hollows. I walked with Dr Ashton along the shore where the discovery was made. He recalled how he and a colleague stumbled across the hollows: "At the time, I wondered 'could these really be the case? If it was the case, these could be the earliest footprints outside Africa and that would be absolutely incredible." Such discoveries are very rare. The Happisburgh footprints are the only ones of this age in Europe and there are only three other sets that are older, all of which are in Africa. "At first, we weren't sure what we were seeing," Dr Ashton told me, "but it was soon clear that the hollows resembled human footprints." The hollows were washed away not long after they were identified. The team were, however, able to capture the footprints on video that will be shown at an exhibition at London's Natural History Museum later this month The video shows the researchers on their hands and knees in cold, driving rain, engaged in a race against time to record the hollows. Dr Ashton recalls how they scooped out rainwater from the footprints so that they could be photographed. "But the rain was filling the hollows as quickly as we could empty them," he told me. The team took a 3D scan of the footprints over the following two weeks. A detailed analysis of these images by Dr Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool John Moores University confirmed that the hollows were indeed human footprints, possibly of five people, one adult male and some children. Dr De Groote said she could make out the heel, arch and even toes in some of the prints, the largest of which would have filled a UK shoe size 8 (European size 42; American size 9) . "When I was told about the footprints, I was absolutely stunned," Dr De Groote told BBC News. "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." TAGS abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines- published: 07 Feb 2014
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Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800,000-year-old imprints
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800,000-year-old imprints ...
published: 07 Feb 2014
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800,000-year-old imprints
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800,000-year-old imprints
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800,000-year-old imprints 're-write our understanding of history' Early humans were related to Homo antecessor known as 'Pioneer Man' Species dates from 1.2 million ago and became extinct 600,000 years ago 50 prints were made by children and adults with one being a UK size 8 Scientists estimate heights varied from 0.9m (3ft) to over 1.7m (5ft 7ins) Prints were found at Happisburgh in May last year but quickly eroded away Scientists stitched together photographs to create a permanent 3D record It is hoped new footprints will be revealed as winter storms batter the coast The earliest footprints left by humans outside Africa have been found in estuary mud in Norfolk. Described as 'the most important discovery on British shores', the 800,000-year-old footprints were found in Happisburgh after being exposed by sea tides. Scientists believe the footprints are evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe, previously only revealed through the discovery of animal bones and stone tools. The footprint surface was exposed at low tide as heavy seas removed the beach sands to reveal a series of elongated hollows cut into compacted silts. Of the 50 footprints found, only around twelve were reasonably complete while two showed the toes in detail. 'We had no idea what we were looking at,' Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum told MailOnline.'But it was nothing like we had seen before.' 'I had a feeling it could be very significant, but we could see that the tide was washing it away as quickly as it had exposed it.' Acting on gut instinct and despite torrential rain, Dr Ashton and his team set to work to record the surface before it was eroded. Over the next two weeks the team used photogrammetry, a technique that can stitch together digital photographs to create a permanent record and 3D images of the surface. It was the analysis of these images that confirmed that the elongated hollows were indeed ancient human footprints, perhaps of five individuals. 'I remember the moment I found out these were human footprints,' said Dr Ashton. 'I was sitting at my desk, I opened an email with an attachment of the images, and I was absolutely astonished. 'You know that feeling you get when a shiver goes down your spine...these are without a doubt the oldest human footprints in Europe and some of the oldest in the world.' Dr Ashton describes the study, described in science journal PLOS ONE, as 'a truly remarkable discovery.' It is thought that the prints represent a group of at least one or two adult males, at least two adult females or teenagers and three or four children. In some cases the heel, arch and even toes could be identified, equating to modern shoes of up to UK size 8. The early humans would have looked very much like us, but with much smaller brains, said Dr Ashton. Scientists from the British Museum believe the 800,000-year-old footprints may be related to our very early ancestor known as Homo antecessor. Homo antecessor is one of the earliest known varieties of human discovered in Europe dating back as far as 1.2 million years ago. Believed to have weighed around 14 stone, Homo antecessor was said to have been between 5.5 and 6ft tall. Their brain sizes were roughly between 1,000 and 1,150 cm³, which is smaller than the average 1,350 cm³ brains of modern humans. The species is believed to have been right-handed, making it different from other apes, and may have used a symbolic language, according to archaeologists who found remains in Burgos, Spain in 1994. The importance of the Happisburgh footprints is highlighted by the rarity of footprints surviving elsewhere. Only those at Laetoli in Tanzania at about 3.5 million years and at Ileret and Koobi Fora in Kenya at about 1.5 million years are more ancient. How Homo antecessor is related to other Homo species in Europe has been fiercely debated. Many anthropologists believe there was an evolutionary link between Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergensis. Archaeologist Richard Klein claims Homo antecessor was a separate species completely, that evolved from Homo ergaster. Others claim Homo antecessor is actually the same species as Homo heidelbergensis, who lived in Europe between 600,000 and 250,000 years ago in the Pleistocene era. In 2010 stone tools were found at the same site in Happisburgh, Norfolk, believed to have been used by Homo antecessor.- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 1
6:06
The earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Norfolk | Natural History Museum
A series of footprints that were left by early humans over 800,000 years ago have been dis...
published: 07 Feb 2014
The earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Norfolk | Natural History Museum
The earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Norfolk | Natural History Museum
A series of footprints that were left by early humans over 800,000 years ago have been discovered by a team of scientists led by the British Museum, Natural History Museum and Queen Mary University of London. The footprints left in ancient estuary muds were found at Happisburgh in Norfolk and are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. Find out more about the discovery: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/news Archaeological finds from Happisburgh and other locations around the country feature in our Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story exhibition, open between 13 February and 28 September 2014: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/britainmillionyears- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 45
1:50
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on...
published: 07 Feb 2014
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk Coast in the East of England. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh. They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. Details of the extraordinary markings have been published in the science journal Plos One. The footprints have been described as "one of the most important discoveries, if not the most important discovery that has been made on [Britain's] shores," by Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum. "It will rewrite our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain and indeed of Europe," he told BBC News. The markings were first indentified in May last year during a low tide. Rough seas had eroded the sandy beach to reveal a series of elongated hollows. I walked with Dr Ashton along the shore where the discovery was made. He recalled how he and a colleague stumbled across the hollows: "At the time, I wondered 'could these really be the case? If it was the case, these could be the earliest footprints outside Africa and that would be absolutely incredible." Such discoveries are very rare. The Happisburgh footprints are the only ones of this age in Europe and there are only three other sets that are older, all of which are in Africa. "At first, we weren't sure what we were seeing," Dr Ashton told me, "but it was soon clear that the hollows resembled human footprints." The hollows were washed away not long after they were identified. The team were, however, able to capture the footprints on video that will be shown at an exhibition at London's Natural History Museum later this month. The video shows the researchers on their hands and knees in cold, driving rain, engaged in a race against time to record the hollows. Dr Ashton recalls how they scooped out rainwater from the footprints so that they could be photographed. "But the rain was filling the hollows as quickly as we could empty them," he told me. The team took a 3D scan of the footprints over the following two weeks. A detailed analysis of these images by Dr Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool John Moores University confirmed that the hollows were indeed human footprints, possibly of five people, one adult male and some children. Dr De Groote said she could make out the heel, arch and even toes in some of the prints, the largest of which would have filled a UK shoe size 8 (European size 42; American size 9) . "When I was told about the footprints, I was absolutely stunned," Dr De Groote told BBC News. "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."- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 1
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Heavy Waves Uncover Prehistoric Human Footprint on Norfolk Coast
Heavy Waves Uncover Prehistoric Human Footprint on Norfolk Coast
The oldest human footpri...
published: 07 Feb 2014
Heavy Waves Uncover Prehistoric Human Footprint on Norfolk Coast
Heavy Waves Uncover Prehistoric Human Footprint on Norfolk Coast
Heavy Waves Uncover Prehistoric Human Footprint on Norfolk Coast The oldest human footprints ever found outside Africa, dated at between 850,000 and 950,000 years old, have been discovered on the storm-lashed beach at Happisburgh in Norfolk, one of the fastest eroding stretches of the British coast. Within a fortnight the sea tides that exposed the prints last May destroyed them, leaving only casts and 3D images made through photogrammetry -- by stitching together hundreds of photographs -- as evidence that a little group from a long-extinct early human species had passed that way. They walked through a startlingly different landscape from today's, along the estuary of what may have been the original course of the Thames, through a river valley grazed by mammoths, hippos and rhinoceros. The pattern of the prints suggests at least five individuals heading southward, pausing and pottering about to gather plants or shellfish along the bank. They included several children. The best preserved prints, clearly showing heel, arch and four toes -- one may not have left a clear impression -- is of a man with a foot equivalent to a modern size 8 shoe, suggesting an individual about 5ft 7ins (1.7 metres ) tall. "This is an extraordinarily rare discovery," said Nick Ashton, a scientist at the British Museum where the find was announced. "The Happisburgh site continues to rewrite our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain and indeed of Europe." Although far older footprints have been found in Africa, the prints are more than twice the age of the previous oldest in Europe, from southern Italy and dated to around 345,000 years. The Norfolk footprints are the first direct evidence of people at the most northerly edge of habitation in Europe, otherwise known only from fossilised animal bones and flint implements from a site nearby. The scientists worked flat out in the few hours between tides, sponging away seawater and brushing off sand, to record the prints. They were dated from the overlying sedimentary layers and glacial deposits, and the fossil remains of extinct animals -- identified by Simon Parfitt, of the Natural History Museum, as including mammoth, an extinct type of horse and an early form of vole. No human fossils have been found but the scientists from national museums and universities, who have been working at Happisburgh for a decade, believe they must be there and that there is a good chance more footprints will be exposed in a coastline crumbling on every tide -- there has been 30 metres of erosion at the site since the find. Local people keep a near daily watch on the beach and phone the scientists if they spot anything interesting. "It's a needle in a haystack," said Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, a world authority on early humans. "There is the tiny chance of being in the right place at the right time, and recognising what you're seeing -- if it's a bit of human rib going out on the tide, you might miss it completely." The climate was close to that of modern Scandinavia, with warm summers and very cold winters, when the group walked across the wet mud. With the river, plain and brackish pools there was abundant food including prey animals, shellfish and edible plants. However, very soon in geological terms, perhaps within 50,000 years, the weather got much worse and the humans retreated back across the landbridge to the continent and further south. Stringer says confirmation will have to wait for fossil finds, but he believes the Norfolk hominids were related to people from Atapuerca in Spain described as Homo antecessor, pioneer man. He believes they became extinct in Europe, perhaps replaced by another early human species, Homo heidelbergensis, then by Neanderthals from around 400,000 years ago and finally by modern humans. Life was not always a stroll across a beach: the Spanish human fossils show the same cut marks as the animal bones, evidence of cannibalism. "abc news" "cbs news" "ap news" "nbc news" "bbc news" "wall street digital" "rt news" "breaking news" "world news" "global news" "latest news" "scientific news" "24 hour news" "apocalypse news" politics "Norfolk hominids" "human footprint" "stone age" caveman prehistoric ancient extinct homo "Norfolk footprint" happisburgh find The Happisburgh find will be included in an exhibition opening next week at the Natural History Museum, Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story.- published: 07 Feb 2014
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Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK
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published: 07 Feb 2014
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK
Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK
Search Results News for Earliest human footprints outside Africa ... The Guardian Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK: 800000-year-old imprints 're-write our understanding ... Daily Mail - 6 hours ago Scientists believe these footprints, found in Happisburgh, are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. 850000-year-old human footprints found in Norfolk The Guardian - 4 hours ago The million-year-old family? Human footprints found in Britain are oldest ever seen outside of Africa The Independent - 6 hours ago BBC News - Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26025763 6 hours ago - Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk Coast in the East of England. BBC News - Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk ►► www.bbc.co.uk/.../science-environment-26066386 2 hours ago Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk coast ... Earliest human footprints ever discovered outside Africa found on ... ►► www.mirror.co.uk/.../natural-history-museum-proje... 5 hours ago The earliest human footprints ever to be discovered outside Africa have been found on a Norfolk beach ... The million-year-old family? Human footprints found in Britain are ... www.independent.co.uk/.../the-millionyearold-family-human-footprints-... 6 hours ago - Human footprints found in Britain are oldest ever seen outside of Africa ... evidence of Britain's first human inhabitants has been discovered in Norfolk. ... as the footprints are the first of such great age ever found outside Africa. 850,000-year-old human footprints found in Norfolk | Science | The ... www.theguardian.com › News › Science › Archaeology 5 hours ago - The oldest human footprints ever found outside Africa, dated at between 850,000 and 950,000 years old, have been discovered on the ... The earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Norfolk ... ► 6:06► 6:06 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHFFMyBb1O8 7 hours ago - Uploaded by Natural History Museum A series of footprints that were left by early humans over 800,000 years ago have been discovered by a team ... Oldest human footprint outside Africa found on Norfolk beach | Tom ... blogs.channel4.com/.../oldest-human-footprint-discovered-norfolk.../695 7 hours ago - Muddy footprints uncovered by a storm last year on a Norfolk beach are the oldest human tracks discovered outside of Africa - and provide firm ... 900000 year old footprints of earliest northern Europeans discovered ►► www.telegraph.co.uk › Science › Science News 4 hours ago Footprints left behind by the earliest known human ancestors to live in northern ... been discovered after ... More by Richard Gray - in 100 Google+ circles Earliest human footprints outside Africa discovered in NORFOLK - Netweather Community Forum forum.netweather.tv › Climate and Science › Space, Science & nature 9 hours ago - 1 post - 1 author The earliest footprints left by humans outside Africa have been found in estuary mud in Norfolk. Described as 'the most important discovery on ...- published: 07 Feb 2014
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1:48
800,000-year-old footprints found in Norfolk
Footprints planted in the mud at Happisburgh are said to be more than 800,000 years old - ...
published: 07 Feb 2014
800,000-year-old footprints found in Norfolk
800,000-year-old footprints found in Norfolk
Footprints planted in the mud at Happisburgh are said to be more than 800,000 years old - the oldest marks made by human feet ever discovered outside Africa. Scientists are now trying to understand the full implications of the find, the first direct evidence of our earliest ancestors in northern Europe.- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 8
1:50
BBC News - Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on...
published: 07 Feb 2014
BBC News - Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
BBC News - Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk coast in the east of England. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh. They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum was part of the team that found the footprints. He took BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh to the site of the discovery to explain what had been found.- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 1
1:50
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk 07.02.2014
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on...
published: 07 Feb 2014
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk 07.02.2014
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk 07.02.2014
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk coast in the east of England. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh. They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe.- published: 07 Feb 2014
- views: 1
2:32
900,000 year-old Norfolk footprints 'definitely human'
Dr Isabelle De Groote, an anthropologist at Liverpool John Moores University explains how ...
published: 07 Feb 2014
900,000 year-old Norfolk footprints 'definitely human'
900,000 year-old Norfolk footprints 'definitely human'
Dr Isabelle De Groote, an anthropologist at Liverpool John Moores University explains how 3D models were used to show 900,000 year-old prints found on a beach in Norfolk could only have been made by humans Archaeologists have discovered some of the oldest human footprints in the world during a dig on a beach on the Norfolk coast. The prints, thought to be more than 900,000 years old, were found in silt on the beach at Happisburgh. Scientists believe the prints, which were probably made by five different people, are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. The prints were found at low tide when heavy waves washed away much of the beach sand to briefly expose the silt and scientists rushed to take photographs of them before they were eroded by the sea. The scientists also made 3D models of the surface which show distinct heel, arch and toe marks left by a group of adults and children - with some equating to modern shoe sizes of up to UK size eight. Dr Isabelle De Groote explained that 3D models clearly showed that the footprints could have only been made by humans. Only three other sets of footprints, discovered in Africa, are more ancient. Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=telegraphtv Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/telegraph.co.uk Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/telegraph Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/102891355072777008500/ Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.- published: 07 Feb 2014
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