90,000-year-old human footprints found on Moroccan beach

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The discovery of ancient human footprints on a Moroccan beach marks a significant find in ichnology, as these footprints are the oldest known in North Africa, dating back to the Pleistocene or Pliocene epochs. This site is crucial for understanding early human activity and movement, as it provides insights into the behavior and environment of early Homo sapiens. The footprints were dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), a technique that measures the last time sediment was exposed to light. This discovery contributes to the broader understanding of human evolution and migration patterns, suggesting interactions between early humans and possibly Neanderthals in the region.
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An international team of archaeologists has found and identified a trackway made by multiple humans approximately 90,000 years ago in what is now Morocco. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes how they tested for its origins of the tracks.
Full article here.

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-year-human-footprints-moroccan-beach.html

Paper here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-52344-5

"From an ichnological point of view, the Larache footprints represent an important discovery. Indeed, no other site in North Africa has yielded footprints dating from the Pleistocene or Pliocene. They are, therefore, the oldest human footprints in this region and among the oldest footprints attributed to Homo sapiens worldwide."

From google : Ichnology is the study of the fossilized tracks, trails, burrows and excavations made by animals and more broadly the study of bioturbation, which is the reworking of sediment by animals. Ichnologists use ichnofossils or trace fossils to interpret paleoecological aspects of sedimentary environments.

A link on the dating technique used

OSL, Optically Stimulated Luminescence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optically_stimulated_luminescence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminescence_dating
 
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Guess those were Mousterians walking. Maybe going up to mix with some Neanderthals at a music festival.
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