The man of today could potentially catch a glimpse of the past as 5,000-year-old human footprints were discovered along the coast of Denmark. This discovery could serve as key to unlocking the mysteries surrounding the lives of the earliest humans who inhabited northern Europe. These were found during the Fehmarn excavations initiated by the archeologists from the Museum Lolland-Falster located in Denmark.
"This is really quite extraordinary, finding footprints from humans. Normally, what we find is their rubbish in the form of tools and pottery, but here, we suddenly have a completely different type of traces from the past, footprints left by a human being. We are familiar with animal footprints, but to the best of my knowledge, we have never come across human footprints in Danish Stone Age archaeology before," proclaimed Terje Stafseth, an archaeologist at the Museum Lolland-Falster.
Apart from the human footprints, fish fences were also discovered within the vicinity. These could give researchers first-hand data to analyze with regard the hunting techniques of the primeval Europeans. Archeologists described these as a prehistoric kind of gillnet, which is an extremely useful tool in gathering fish. Upon closer inspection of the fish fences, it was found that these were repeatedly repaired. The frequency of the patch-ups was attributed to possible recurring floods in the area.
The human footprints were theorized to have been made by a minimum of two people. The prehistoric men who made these prints were possibly fishermen. The evidence suggested that the footprints were made by jumping from one area to another in an effort to relocate one of the net systems.
The footprints, which remained in the area even after 50 centuries, were believed to have been preserved due to the sandy quality of the ground. The constant wetness in the same spot, combined with the sand, caused the footprints left by the ancient men to dry up. These were gradually overlaid with layers of dirt that served to preserve the prints.
