# Ancient Footprints



## Rosemary (Jan 9, 2006)

*Ancient Footprints of **Australia*

   Hundreds of human footprints dating back to about 20,000BC – the oldest in Australia and the biggest collection of its kind in the world – have been discovered in a National Park in New South Wales.
   They were left by children, adolescents and adults at the height of the last ice age as they ran and walked across a moist clay area.
   Some people would have appeared to be hunting, with one very tall man sprint at about 20kmh.
   The 457 footprints, of toddler-sized to a size 12 ‘bigfoot’ print were uncovered in a clay pan beneath sand dunes.
   It brings these ancient people to life, for you can see how the mud squelched between their toes.
   About 20,000 ago the now dry lakes would have held fish, mussels and crayfish.
   The archeologists at the site estimate the height of the people from their foot size and speed.  The prints date back to the height of the last ice age, an exciting time in Australia’s past, when Tasmania and many other parts of the country were glaciated.  This is the earliest discovery of fossil footprints for Australia.
   Recently two 17,000 year old skeletal remains were found about 6km away.  They belonged to people who were athletic, strong and fit.  
   The site is closed to the public to preserve it.

   From The West Australian Newspaper


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## littlemissattitude (Jan 9, 2006)

I read a little bit about this a couple of days ago or so.  Very cool.

It always fascinates me when someone finds some remnant of a particular person or group of people...footprints, fingerprints, handprints that makes history so concrete.  I think we tend sometimes to imagine a past with only some vague notion that there were "people" back then, but we don't even think that those people were actual individuals who slogged through life day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute just like we do.  Those footprints bring that fact into sharp focus, showing us what is essentially a snapshot of a moment in time, as opposed to some vague, amphorus "past".


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## cornelius (Jan 9, 2006)

strong and athletic, those wre the days...

nice thread Rosemary


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## Foxbat (Jan 9, 2006)

I agree that this kind of find really makes us think of those ancients as individuals. Fascinating stuff.




_Lives of brave men are reminders_
_We may make our lives sublime_
_And departing leave behind us _
_Footprints in the sands of time_
(can't remember who wrote this but it seemed appropriate)


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## Esioul (Jan 11, 2006)

Reminds me of those strange footprints on the beach that appeared with a tide- I think it was in Norfolk. 

I wonder how accurate such footprints are in working out height? I know very short people with big feet, and very tall people with small feet.


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## littlemissattitude (Jan 11, 2006)

I'm not sure, but I think height is figured from footprints based on stride length rather than how big the prints are or how deep they are.


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