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| Egypt footprint 'could be oldest' | Egypt footprint 'could be oldest' |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| Archaeologists in Egypt say they have discovered what might be the oldest human footprint ever found. | Archaeologists in Egypt say they have discovered what might be the oldest human footprint ever found. |
| The outline was found imprinted in mud, which has since turned to stone, at Siwa oasis in the western desert. | The outline was found imprinted in mud, which has since turned to stone, at Siwa oasis in the western desert. |
| "This could go back about two million years," antiquities council chief Zahi Hawass was quoted by Reuters as saying. | "This could go back about two million years," antiquities council chief Zahi Hawass was quoted by Reuters as saying. |
| However Khaled Saad, director of pre-history at the council, said it could be older still, and pre-date Ethiopia's 3m-year-old skeleton, Lucy. | However Khaled Saad, director of pre-history at the council, said it could be older still, and pre-date Ethiopia's 3m-year-old skeleton, Lucy. |
| Lucy, discovered in 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia, is an extinct Australopithecus afarensis hominid estimated to be 3.2 million years old. | |
| Creatures of her kind are assumed to have left the feet impressions recorded in volcanic ash at Laetoli in Tanzania. These prints have been dated to 3.6 million years ago. | |
| The oldest footprints (and handprints) known to be associated with Homo (human) species are recorded in volcanic rocks at Roccamonfina in Italy. These are about 350,000 years old. | |
| Commenting on the new discovery - which has yet to be reviewed by independent scientists - Mr Hawass said: "It could be the most important discovery in Egypt." | |
| Until now the earliest evidence of human activity found in Egypt, most famous for the era of the pharaohs, dates from about 200,000 years ago. | Until now the earliest evidence of human activity found in Egypt, most famous for the era of the pharaohs, dates from about 200,000 years ago. |