The oldest footprints in North America have been discovered on Calvert Island in British Columbia, Canada. The amazing archaeological discovery features 12 footprints that indicate at least three separate individuals, possibly living as a family group.
Calvert Island's First Family Found in the Oldest Footprints in North America
On a small island off the coast of British Columbia, a family of two adults and one child huddled around a fire. They circled around the stone-ringed fire pit, warming their hands and faces with the heat coming from their tiny bonfire as their footprints melted into the soft clay under their feet.
13,000 years later, archaeologists have uncovered those very footprints in the soft clay. The footprints were brushed over with black sand, but still so well preserved, it is almost shocking to believe the family had gathered thousands of years ago. Though the family has long since disappeared, they may have just provided archaeologists with …show more content…
The only way to access the island is via boat, which is how a team of archaeologists from the University of Victoria came to the island in 2014.
The team, led by Duncan McLaren and Daryl Fedje, were looking for evidence of human settlement in North America after the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, which occurred 20,000 years ago (http://www.hakai.org/field-stations/calvert-island-field-station/history). Though the region would have been completely underwater until an estimated 14,000 years ago, the researchers were lucky to find a single footprint near the shore. With support from the Hakai Institute (http://www.hakai.org/), the team embarked on a second archaeological dig at the same site a few months
Calvert Island's First Family Found in the Oldest Footprints in North America
On a small island off the coast of British Columbia, a family of two adults and one child huddled around a fire. They circled around the stone-ringed fire pit, warming their hands and faces with the heat coming from their tiny bonfire as their footprints melted into the soft clay under their feet.
13,000 years later, archaeologists have uncovered those very footprints in the soft clay. The footprints were brushed over with black sand, but still so well preserved, it is almost shocking to believe the family had gathered thousands of years ago. Though the family has long since disappeared, they may have just provided archaeologists with …show more content…
The only way to access the island is via boat, which is how a team of archaeologists from the University of Victoria came to the island in 2014.
The team, led by Duncan McLaren and Daryl Fedje, were looking for evidence of human settlement in North America after the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, which occurred 20,000 years ago (http://www.hakai.org/field-stations/calvert-island-field-station/history). Though the region would have been completely underwater until an estimated 14,000 years ago, the researchers were lucky to find a single footprint near the shore. With support from the Hakai Institute (http://www.hakai.org/), the team embarked on a second archaeological dig at the same site a few months