It’s been 27 years since geologist David Roberts identified some of the oldest footprints of our species ever discovered. The trackway of three footprints was found on the surface of a cemented sand dune (called an aeolianite) near Langebaan on South Africa’s west coast. The tracks were later dated to 117,000 years and were attributed to Homo sapiens; they became popularly known as “Eve’s footprints”.
They were airlifted to Cape Town, where they are housed in the Iziko South Africa Museum. A replica is on exhibit at the Geelbek Visitor Centre in the West Coast National Park. There has been international debate since then about whether or not “Eve’s footprints” really were human tracks, due to their relatively poor level of preservation.
