85 Remarkably Preserved Human Footprints Have Emerged on a Moroccan Beach
The Daily Galaxy • • science
Key Points:
- Researchers discovered 85 fossilized human footprints on a beach in northern Morocco, dating back approximately 90,000 years, making them the oldest known human trackway in North Africa and the southern Mediterranean.
- The footprints, preserved in clay-rich sand and rapidly buried by tides, were made by at least five individuals of varying ages, indicating a multigenerational group moving together during a brief low tide event.
- The unique geological conditions of the rocky platform covered in clay sediments allowed for exceptional preservation of the footprints by preventing erosion and surface disruption.
- The site is currently threatened by ongoing erosion and collapse of the rocky coastal platform, putting the footprints at risk of being lost permanently.
- Researchers emphasize the urgency to document and study
