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The Happisburgh footprints were a set of fossilized hominin footprints that date to the early Pleistocene. They were discovered in May 2013 in a newly uncovered sediment layer on a beach at Happisburgh ( ) in Norfolk, England, and were destroyed by the tide shortly afterwards. Results of research on the footprints were announced on 7 February 2014, and identified them as dating to more than 800,000 years ago. They are the oldest known hominin footprints outside Africa.〔Ashton N, Lewis SG, De Groote I, Duffy SM, Bates M, et al. (2014) ("Hominin Footprints from Early Pleistocene Deposits at Happisburgh, UK" ), ''PLoS ONE'' 9(2): e88329. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088329〕 Before the Happisburgh discovery, the oldest-known footprints in Britain were at Uskmouth in South Wales, from the Mesolithic and carbon-dated to 4,600 BC. ==Discovery== The footprints were discovered in May 2013 by Nicholas Ashton, curator at the British Museum, and Martin Bates from Trinity St David's University, who were carrying out research as part of the Pathways to Ancient Britain (PAB) project. The footprints were found in sediment, partially covered by beach sand, at low tide on the foreshore at Happisburgh. The sediment had been laid down in the estuary of a long-vanished river and subsequently been covered by sand, preserving its surface. The layer of sediment underlies a cliff on the beach, but after stormy weather the protective layer of sand was washed away and the sediment exposed.〔 Because of the softness of the sediment, which lay below the high tide mark, tidal action eroded it, and within two weeks the footprints had been destroyed.〔 Although the researchers were unable to preserve the footprints, they worked during periods of low tide, often in pouring rain, to record 3D images of all the footprints using photogrammetry. The images were analysed by Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool John Moores University, who was able to confirm that the hollows in the sediment were hominin footprints.〔 Facts concerning the discovery were published by Ashton and other members of the research team in February 2014 in the science journal ''PLOS ONE''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Happisburgh footprints」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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