January 16, 2008
Last call for oldest footprints
They are the world's oldest human tracks, a set of footprints pressed into volcanic ash that have lain perfectly preserved for more than three-and-a-half million years. Made by a group of ancient apemen, the prints represent one of the most important sites in human evolutionary studies, for they show that our ancestors had already stopped walking on four legs and had become upright members of the primate world.Full story here.But now the Laetoli steps in northern Tanzania are in danger of destruction. The footprints, although reburied 10 years ago and covered by a special protective coating, are suffering storm erosion, while trees and plants begin to grow through the historic outlines.
Posted by David on January 16, 2008 4:18 PM
I read this story with some amazement. Having collected footprints, some as large as a meter across--dinosaur), I wondered at what was going on: have my friends in anthropology gone daff? It is well known that fossils erode and exposing fossils erodes them even faster. The old axiom: the best protection for fossils once they are exposed, is collection. Collecting footprints is not difficult and collecting lots of footprints (trackways) is not difficult. There needs to be some logic applied as well as sweat, plaster, careful documentation, photographs, maps and packing crates. There isalso a need for an appropriate institution to house and curate the collected tracks.
This is not a difficult job.
Posted by: Donald Wolberg on January 16, 2008 7:11 PM
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