The Sea Rose Over British Columbia's 13,000-Year-Old Human Footprints

The sea rose over British Columbia's 13,000-year-old human footprints. On Calvert Island, 29 human footprints pressed into clay about 13,000 years ago lie 60 centimetres beneath a beach the tide covers. The people who made them walked just above a shoreline that stood two to three metres lower than today. The sea came back over that surface, sand and pebbles covered it, and forest soil grew above it for thousands of years. This is the documented story of one patch of ground followed through its shoreline's changes: marine clay laid down under the sea, soil formed as the sea fell, at least three people walking on it, the tide returning, sand and clay covering the surface, forest rooting above it, and the 2014 test excavation that reached the first print. In this video: Before 14,000 years ago: the ground lies under the sea and marine clay settles; after about 14,000 the sea falls below its present level and soil forms on the clay by 13,300 Sea level at Calvert Island two to three metres below today's when the prints were made; the island sits between coasts whose shorelines moved far more 2014: a small test excavation reaches a suspected print 60 centimetres below the beach; the next two field seasons open an area 4 metres by 2 29 identifiable footprints; 18 measured for length and width; three sizes, so at least three people, one of them a child; some prints with an arch, a heel and distinct toe impressions The field crew: archaeologists, representatives of the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv First Nations, and University of Victoria students Wood pressed into the prints underfoot, shore pine among it, dated to about 13,000 years; the laboratory dated plant material, not the hollow left by a foot Prints facing in different directions, many up the beach; a left and a right foot side by side; one heel that slipped; toe drag marks revealed in enhanced photographs Sand and pebbles over the surface, then another layer of clay; pools near the upper reach of the tides cut pits into the old surface Forest soils above the site from about 11,350 to about 3,000 years ago; around 5,000 years ago the sea at least a metre above the prints while forest soil lay over them About 3,000 years ago, runoff channels cut the younger deposits; more sand, gravel and later occupation debris; the modern beach on top The 2021 experiment: McLaren, Mackie and Fedje with visiting school students at the University of Victoria; clay, twigs and leaves, sand, trowels and spoons; raised rims first, toes beneath; four student groups 38 pieces of worked stone in the footprint layer: flakes, cores, pebble tools and retouched tools, in andesite and quartzite Watercraft on this coast, the researchers conclude; whether this group had just stepped out of a boat stays an interpretation What delivered the sand stays unresolved: changing sea level, a storm surge or a tsunami Key figures: 29 footprints; 18 measured; at least three people; 60 centimetres; 4 metres by 2; two to three metres of sea level; about 13,000 years; 38 pieces of worked stone. Timeline: 14,000, 13,300, 13,000, 11,350, 5,000 and 3,000 years ago; 2014; 2018; 2021. Watch next:    • Vancouver Island Won't Sink. Its West Coas...   Vancouver Island Won't Sink: the west coast that will drop up to 2 metres in the next megathrust earthquake    • Hudson Bay's Ice Retreated 8,000 Years Ago...   Hudson Bay's Ice Retreated 8,000 Years Ago: the ice that left, and the gravity that kept the evidence Chapters: 0:00 Under the beach 1:01 The field crew 1:23 The 2014 test excavation 1:46 29 footprints 2:29 Three sizes, one child 3:39 Shore pine and the date 4:07 The older coast 5:19 Sand over the surface 6:13 Two bootprints 6:37 The experiment 8:32 Pools, pits and forest soil 10:02 Runoff channels 10:49 Worked stone 11:20 By watercraft 12:03 The record 12:28 The ledger Every claim in this video is drawn from the documented record: McLaren, Fedje, Dyck, Mackie, Gauvreau and Cohen, PLOS ONE, 2018; McLaren, Mackie and Fedje, Reading Prehistoric Human Tracks, 2021. The prints are roughly 13,000 years old by radiocarbon measurements on associated wood and the surrounding layers. The cause of the sand that first covered them is not settled by the record. The footprints establish people on this coast at the end of the last ice age without identifying a first arrival or tracing an entire migration. Living persons are described by their published work only. Subscribe and turn on notifications. Tell us in the comments: is there a place near you where an old shoreline now runs through dry land or beneath the water? Name the place and share the source if you have one. #BritishColumbia #CalvertIsland #IceAge #Footprints #Canada #Geography #SeaLevel #Heiltsuk #Wuikinuxv #Shoreline