Happisburgh footprints facts for kids
The oldest footprints of early human ancestors found in Europe are in Britain. These amazing footprints are about 800,000 to a million years old! They were discovered on Happisburgh beach in East Anglia in May 2013. This discovery changed what we thought we knew about when humans first lived in northern Europe.
Europe's Oldest Footprints
These footprints are super important. They are the oldest human-like footprints found outside of Africa. Scientists say they are between 780,000 and 1 million years old. This discovery means early humans lived in northern Europe much earlier than we thought. It pushes back the date by at least 350,000 years!
The Happisburgh area is special. It has preserved very old animal and plant remains. These come from the early Pleistocene period, also known as the Ice Age. Since 2005, flint tools have also been found there. This shows that early humans were definitely living in this area.
How They Were Discovered
The footprints were found in soft sediment on the shore at Happisburgh. They were partly covered by beach sand. A big storm had washed away the sand, leaving the sediment exposed. This happened during low tide.
The sediment was very soft. It was also below the high tide mark. This meant the ocean tides quickly washed away the exposed sediment. In just two weeks, all the footprints were gone!
A team of archaeologists worked very fast. They worked during low tides, even when it was raining. They quickly recorded 3D images of all the footprints. This way, they saved the important information before the ocean erased them forever.
Images for kids
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Plan of the Happisburgh site, showing exposed and recorded foreshore sediments and location of the footprint surface
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Photographs of Area A at Happisburgh, showing: (a) view of footprint surface looking north; and (b) view of footprint surface looking south, also showing underlying horizontally bedded laminated silts
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The Happisburgh footprints with a camera lens cap for scale
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Paleolithic handaxe, from Happisburgh, found on the beach by a man walking his dog in 2000
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