Ice Age Footprints Discovered in Morocco

MORBIHAN, FRANCE—Two trackways made up of 85 well-preserved footprints were discovered on a rocky platform covered in clay sediments on the coast of Morocco by Mouncef Sedrati of the University of Southern Brittany and his colleagues, according to a Live Science report. The prints are thought to have been left behind by a group of at least five modern humans about 90,000 years ago, based upon optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz in the sand. Measurements of the length and depth of the footprints suggest that the group contained children, adolescents, and adults, Sedrati said. His team will work quickly to complete their analysis of the trackways because the rocky shore platform holding them may collapse. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Scientific Reports. To read about fossilized Ice Age footprints uncovered in the New Mexico desert, go to "Ghost Tracks of White Sands."