✅ SOLVED human footprint fossil ?

[fmerg]

bottom is covered with fossilized seashells
opinions ? real or natural

 

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[RW]

Sure looks like a large foot. Not sure if humans have been around long enough to fossilize though?

 

[Al D]

Proof that Bigfoot does exist,

 

[joesmarbles]

there is an episode on Time team that show human footprints in ancient mud. I believe it had to do with dunes or something in that area.
They actually tried to recreate the patterns with a male and female or a young person....Joe McDonough

Season 11 Episode 8

 

[RustyGold]

We have been here longer than one can imagine so it seems we have what looks to be a footprint.
One never knows though..very cool!

 

[Georgivs]

Where did you find it / how old is the fossil deposit? If you found in NA probably just a geofact, but a cool one.

 

[GoldieLocks]

This looks to be modern cement mixed material, I believe. And you didn't make this yourself?

 

[unclemac]

what's the back story?

 

[Red-Coat]

The scientific definition for a fossil is that it's the preserved remains of something once-living, or evidence of its biological activity, which is more than 10,000 years old. It's a fallacy that a 'fossil' has be hundreds of thousands or millions of years old. The cut-off date broadly represents what we regard as the start of the modern Holocene era. Fossils that represent evidence of activity such as footprints are in the sub-category 'ichnofossils'. The oldest known anatomically modern human footprint ichnofossils date to around 117,000 years and were discovered in South Africa, although there are other bipedal hominin footprints from Africa dating to 3.7 million years. Near where I used to live on the East coast of England, some footprints from at least 850,000 years ago were exposed after storm-erosion of a beach.

Having said that, without some additional evidence or expert examination, it's much more probable that you have just found a curiously-shaped piece of lithified marine sediment. It's resemblance to a human footprint is not very convincing.

The shells you observed on the 'bottom' are brachiopods and they do appear to be fossilised.

 

[No gold in NY]

Seems iffy to me, but the fossils are great. A keeper for sure.

 

[fmerg]

here is a closeup of the stone

 

[fmerg]

no real back store just a find along a rock cut....

 

[Red-Coat]

here is a closeup of the stone

It's limestone... with another brachipod fossil in the centre.

 

[fmerg]

it was found along a rock cut in a roadway
i have no idea about fossils so i can not say anything about the age
what i did find out is that the oldest known human footprint fossil comes from south america

 

[fmerg]

sent a few photos to an paleontologist at the university of michigan...but he is away until sept 20...hoping he checks his e-mail before then

 

[Red-Coat]

it was found along a rock cut in a roadway
i have no idea about fossils so i can not say anything about the age
what i did find out is that the oldest known human footprint fossil comes from south america

That's the oldest known human footprint from the Americas. Discovered in Chile and possibly around 15,600 years ago. See post #9

It's really highly unlikely that you've found something similar and, although brachiopods are still around today, fossil limestone deposits containing them most usually date to the Palaeozoic when they were at their most abundant, between 248 to 545 million years ago.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The scientific definition for a fossil is that it's the preserved remains of something once-living, or evidence of its biological activity, which is more than 10,000 years old. It's a fallacy that a 'fossil' has be hundreds of thousands or millions of years old. The cut-off date broadly represents what we regard as the start of the modern Holocene era. Fossils that represent evidence of activity such as footprints are in the sub-category 'ichnofossils'. The oldest known anatomically modern human footprint ichnofossils date to around 117,000 years and were discovered in South Africa, although there are other bipedal hominin footprints from Africa dating to 3.7 million years. Near where I used to live on the East coast of England, some footprints from at least 850,000 years ago were exposed after storm-erosion of a beach.

Having said that, without some additional evidence or expert examination, it's much more probable that you have just found a curiously-shaped piece of lithified marine sediment. It's resemblance to a human footprint is not very convincing.

The shells you observed on the 'bottom' are brachiopods and they do appear to be fossilised.

Red-Coat you seem extremely knowledgeable on fossils and its great to have you here. . I apologize for hijacking your post fmerg but I will be following it to learn.

I know these pics are old Red-Coat but do you see anything here that would look like a fossil in my old post? I dont have the item with me at this moment. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/471110-fossilized-rib-bone.html

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I'd say the shape is coincidence as there are fossils of shells inside the shape. And also bits of fossils along the edges showing it was originally a from a larger piece and possibly a different shape.

 

[paleomaxx]

That's Bluestone (actually a type of sandstone) which Ulster County is famous for. It was and still is very popular as a building material and large quantities are still quarried for that purpose. The stone was formed in the upper Devonian period (360-385 million years ago) and is often quite fossiliferous. During the Devonian period life was just starting to colonize dry land and mostly consisted of mosses, early vascular plants, and arthropods (bugs). It's also generally believed that fish first started to move to dry land during this time. However the shape is just an interesting coincidence since nothing at that time would be leaving footprints like that and the shells strongly suggest that this was a marine deposit anyways. It's a nice specimen though with a great shell density; worthy of any mantle!

 

[Kray Gelder]

It is real and natural. It is not a human foot print for so many reasons. Good grief.