Ancient Footsteps Reveal a 100,000-Year-Old Tale as Moroccan Shoreline Preserves History

In a groundbreaking discovery on the shores of Morocco, scientists have unearthed well-preserved human footprints dating back 100,000 years. These ancient markings, attributed to a group of both adults and children, offer a rare glimpse into the life of early Homo sapiens, our direct ancestors. The research, led by Mouncef Sedrati, an archaeologist with expertise in coastal dynamics and marine geology at France's University of Southern Brittany, has added a profound chapter to the narrative of human evolution.

The journey towards this discovery began in June 2022 when Sedrati and his team, while examining coastal boulders south of Tangier in Larache, came across the telltale indentations. Despite initial doubts, the discovery of a clear trackway cemented the presence of our early ancestors on this ancient beach. Using modern technology such as optically stimulated luminescence dating, the team determined the time frame of these impressions to the Late Pleistocene era, coining these footprints as the earliest known in North Africa and the Southern Mediterranean.

The impressions display the distinct arches, rounded heels, and short toes characteristic of Homo sapiens, with variations in size indicating the presence of children amongst the adults. What remains a mystery is the purpose of the group's visit to this specific shoreline. Questions linger about the group's activities, whether foraging for sea resources or passage through the landscape, as well as the environmental conditions of their time.

Specialised software was used to process 461 drone-captured photographs, rendering 3D models for detailed analysis of each footprint. This provided the researchers with insights into the group’s dynamics and further contextualised the find within the historical setting of the Late Pleistocene.

The preservation of these footprints can be credited to a combination of soil composition, sea waves, and a rocky shoreline that buried the clay sediments in tides. However, it is the same coastal features that once preserved the footprints that now, due to erosion and rising sea levels, threaten their existence.

These footprints join a storied list of ancient human traces found globally. The oldest known to date belonged to "Eve," discovered in Langebaan, South Africa, and dated to about 117,000 years ago. Further findings have spanned continents, from more tracks in South Africa to others in White Sands National Park in New Mexico, USA, which presented evidence of human activity from as far back as 22,800 years ago.

These footprints serve as a time capsule, offering snapshots of early human behavior from body painting rituals suggested by ochre deposits near "Eve’s footprints" to evidence of controlled fire use. They grant invaluable insights, reshaping our understanding of human dispersal across Earth, challenging previous theories of migration timelines, especially in the Americas.

As with "Eve’s footprints" and the recent Larache discoveries, the imprint of our ancestors is at risk of being erased by natural and anthropogenic influences. Researchers emphasize the urgency of documenting and studying these irreplaceable artifacts before they are lost to the tides of change.