From: mk_thisisit
For decades, the prevailing theory of human evolution has posited that humanity originated in Africa. However, a significant discovery of prehuman tracks in Crete, made by Dr. Gerard Gierliński of the State Geological Institute, has challenged this long-held belief, suggesting a potential European origin or even a dual emergence of early hominins [00:00:08], [00:01:04], [00:01:12].
The Trachilos Footprints in Crete
Dr. Gierliński first observed the surface bearing these ancient traces in 2002 while on vacation [00:01:42]. Initially, he struggled to identify the creators of the tracks, despite his extensive experience with dinosaur traces [00:01:49], [00:02:43]. It wasn’t until 2008, after observing a tourist walking on sand, that he realized the tracks possessed the distinct shape of human footprints [00:03:17], [00:03:26].
The discovery was first made public in 2017, after nearly 20 years of verification and rigorous scientific scrutiny [00:04:26], [00:04:33]. Dr. Gierliński intentionally sought collaboration with highly skeptical and reputable specialists, including the late Professor Martin Lockley, to ensure the findings’ credibility [00:05:33], [00:05:47]. The collective agreement that these were indeed human-like traces solidified the discovery’s significance [00:05:59].
Age and Location
Initial geological maps suggested the tracks were about 5 million years old, dating to the end of the Miocene epoch [00:03:45], [00:03:48]. However, more precise research confirmed an age of 6.02 million years [00:04:06], [00:04:10]. These tracks were found in Trachilos, Crete, a location geographically within Europe [00:03:57], [00:03:59]. Further discoveries of similar tracks have been made along the Cretan coast, several dozen kilometers from the main site [00:31:00], [00:31:40], [00:32:34].
Traditional African Origins
The long-standing theory asserts that human ancestors originated in Africa [00:01:09]. Key evidence for this includes the well-known Australopithecus tracks from Laetoli, Tanzania, which clearly demonstrate definite bipedalism [00:11:30], [00:11:34]. These creatures were completely bipedal and had an upright posture, efficiently moving on land [00:11:39], [00:11:45]. However, these Laetoli tracks are roughly 3.5 million years old [00:00:38], significantly younger than the 6.02-million-year-old traces found in Crete [00:00:15], [00:04:10].
Challenging the Narrative: Europe as a Cradle
The Cretan discovery raises the possibility that hominins may have arisen twice, or that Europe, specifically the Mediterranean basin, was an earlier “birthplace of man” [00:09:08], [00:15:03].
Foot Evolution and Bipedalism
The evolution of the human foot is central to this debate. It’s believed that the complex human foot, with its adducted big toe, adapted for walking on land rather than grasping branches, is a unique evolutionary event [00:06:16], [00:06:50], [00:07:05]. This adaptation is associated with hominins descending from trees and moving into open environments like the savanna [00:07:09], [00:07:18]. The role of bipedalism in human evolution is paramount; our evolution, and arguably human consciousness and its origin, began with legs and the physical shift in locomotion, not primarily from an increase in brain size [00:07:40], [00:07:58], [00:08:19].
The Cretan footprints, while clearly indicating bipedality, have been described as “reduced human tracks, similar to a child’s” [00:00:24], [00:00:26], [00:00:31]. Interestingly, early analysis noted human-like toes but a simian (ape-like) heel, though later comparison with a modern child’s foot revealed similar heel characteristics [00:24:47], [00:25:24].
The Graecopithecus Hypothesis
Professor Madelaine Böhme from the University of Tübingen suggests that the perpetrator of the Cretan tracks was Graecopithecus, an ancient hominin whose remains have been found in Bulgaria and Greece [00:14:23], [00:14:30], [00:14:35]. If her hypothesis is correct, it would strongly support the idea that hominin evolution truly began in Europe [00:15:03].
Environmental Context: The Messinian Salinity Crisis
The geological period in which the Cretan tracks were formed coincides with the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) [00:15:12]. During this crisis, the Mediterranean Sea became shallow and almost completely dried up, leading to a rapid drying out of the climate in the region [00:15:14], [00:15:21]. Forests transformed into steppe or park forests, forcing many animal species to adapt, migrate, or face extinction [00:15:26], [00:15:39]. This environmental change occurred several million years earlier than similar habitat shifts in East Africa, which were driven by continental drift and the formation of the East African Rift Valley [00:15:51], [00:16:06].
The idea that the early hominin could have crossed the Mediterranean to Crete from Africa is dismissed due to the vast, impassable salty desert that would have existed during the MSC, similar to Death Valley [00:16:21], [00:16:30], [00:16:40]. Instead, Crete was likely part of an archipelago connected to the Balkans, with a coast-savanna environment similar to modern African savannas, complete with elephants, hyenas, and buffaloes [00:18:24], [00:18:47].
Evidence for and against Convergent Evolution
The existence of early bipedal hominins in Europe so much earlier than previously thought raises the question of convergent evolution—whether the human-like foot could have arisen independently twice [00:09:01], [00:09:32].
One argument against this convergence comes from the “biological clock” of human lice [00:10:04], [00:10:08]. The three species of human lice (head, body, pubic) are thought to have separated over 3 million years ago, a divergence linked to hominins losing body hair after descending from trees and entering the savanna [00:10:30], [00:10:41]. This genetic evidence suggests the descent from trees couldn’t have occurred earlier than ~3 million years ago, seemingly contradicting the 6-million-year-old Cretan tracks [00:11:04], [00:11:18].
However, the Laetoli Australopithecus tracks, dated to approximately 3.5 million years ago, demonstrate clear bipedality, predating the proposed separation of the lice species [00:11:30], [00:11:50]. This suggests that the lice clock might not fully account for earlier bipedal adaptations [00:11:57], [00:12:08].
Further complicating the picture are traces found near Malaga, Spain, which are younger than the Cretan tracks (over 5 million years old) but appear “regressed”—halfway between a gorilla foot and a human foot, suggesting a more primitive evolutionary stage compared to the older Cretan traces [00:12:50], [00:13:00], [00:13:23].
Characteristics and Lifestyle of Cretan Hominins
The footprints themselves measure approximately 10 to 14 cm, indicating a small size, similar to a child’s foot [00:13:52], [00:14:00]. Based on comparisons with other early hominins like Australopithecus or Sahelanthropus, the creatures were likely about a meter tall [00:14:06], [00:14:14].
Regarding their lifestyle and diet, it is hypothesized that these early hominins, like later Homo erectus, stuck to coastal environments [00:19:00], [00:19:33]. They likely consumed easily available, high-energy food, such as fruits, or scavenged marine life like clams, snails, and crabs that washed ashore [00:19:10], [00:19:20]. Evidence of marine plankton (foraminifera) found within the sediment layers confirms the coastal environment at the time the tracks were made [00:20:00], [00:20:07].
The presence of multiple tracks, including two parallel trails, suggests these individuals walked together, indicating some form of social interaction or familial groups [00:25:35], [00:26:14].
Dating Methods for Ancient Traces
The precise dating of the Trachilos footprints relies on a combination of dating methods:
- Absolute Age Dating: Based on the decay of radioactive elements, particularly from volcanic material present in the area [00:20:31], [00:20:39].
- Ocean Level Correlation: Analysis of regressive and transgressive sequences of ocean walls [00:21:11], [00:21:22].
- Paleomagnetic Studies: Utilizing shifts in the Earth’s magnetic poles recorded in the sediment [00:21:32], [00:21:43].
- Biochronology: Examining rapidly evolving species like foraminifera (marine plankton), whose speciation patterns can be correlated with dated sediments elsewhere [00:21:55], [00:22:01], [00:22:17].
All these methods combined contribute to the highly accurate age determination of 6.02 million years for the Trachilos site [00:22:28], [00:22:34], [00:22:36].
Significance for Human Evolution
The Cretan discovery underscores the importance of studying fossilized footprints (ichnology) in understanding early hominin evolution [00:23:30], [00:24:16]. Unlike skeletal remains, which can lead to debates over bipedality based on a single tooth or bone fragment, tracks provide clear evidence of a creature’s locomotion and adaptation to walking on land [00:23:44], [00:24:18], [00:24:21].
The Trachilos site is considered one of the most important paleontological sites globally [00:30:14], [00:30:18]. The preservation of these 6-million-year-old footprints is due to their rapid covering by subsequent layers of sediment, which solidified into sandstone, protecting them from erosion [00:02:03], [00:02:08], [00:27:21], [00:29:42].
This discovery paints a picture of early hominins as pioneers who, facing environmental challenges like the Messinian Salinity Crisis, left the safety of forests to conquer new, open environments [00:33:12], [00:33:25]. This drastic change in behavior and diet, potentially involving scavenging meat from large savanna predators, hints at the origins of modern human traits such as a need to dominate the world, risk-taking, and cunning [00:33:53], [00:34:03], [00:34:25], [00:34:42]. Humans are described as one of the “most invasive creatures on this planet apart from dinosaurs,” a characteristic evident for millions of years [00:00:42], [00:34:17].