When it comes to our past, we always discover new things. This is what happened in North America, when scientists discovered 29 human footprints that date back from the last Ice Age. These footprints allow us to observe a moment in our ancestors’ life and learn some things about them.
Where were the footprints found
The footprints were discovered by Duncan McLaren, anthropologist at the Hakai Institute and University of Victoria in British Columbia, was exploring the shoreline of Calvert Island, British Columbia, Canada, and his team from the Heiltsuk First Nation and Wuikinuxv First Nation.
Their goal was to fid archaeological deposits from 11,000 to 14,000 years ago when the sea level was way lower. However, they ended up discovering the earliest footprints in North America. They were found back in 2014, and they continued excavating in 2015 and 2016, discovering even more foortprints.
According to the scientists, two adults and a child left these tracks. These are not the only footprints, but researchers were not able to measure the other ones because they were not that well preserved. “The footprints were impressed into a soil just above the paleo-shoreline, possibly by a group of people disembarking from watercraft and moving towards a drier central activity area to the north or northwest,” explained the researchers.
Migration theory
These footprints also comes with some theories about migration. “This provides evidence that people were inhabiting the region at the end of the last ice age. It is possible that the coast was one of the means by which people entered the Americas at that time,” said Duncan.
These footprints might show that migration happened very early. “It’s not only the footprints themselves that are spectacular and so rare in an archaeological context, but also the age of the site. It suggests an early entrance into the Americas.”