Prehistoric

EXPLORE SEFTON’S NATURAL COAST

FootPrints

Find the footprints of the ancestors andtake a glimpse intoprehistoric Britain

AtForMBY

GUIDE TO

FORMBY POINT SHOWING THEFOOTPRINT LOCATIONS

Victoria Road

Lifeboat Road

SAFETY ON THE BEACH

By CarThe public car park at Lifeboat Road (L37 2EJ - charges apply)and the National Trust car park (L37 1LJ - FREE for NTMembers, otherwise charges apply) at Victoria Road offerdirect access through the dunes to Formby Beach.

By Public TransportThere are frequent trains to Freshfield Station, Formby, fromwhere you can walk down Victoria Road to the beach, and toFormby Station, where you can walk down Kirklake Road toaccess Formby Beach at Lifeboat Road.

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Written by Alison Burns, BA (Hons) Archaeology Designed and produced by ABC Design, www.abcdesignuk.com

The bands of sediment are fairly close to the dunes butthe tide could rapidly come in behind you filling thechannels along the beach and leave you stranded. Thebest time to visit is when the tide is at least half way outor at low tide. Check the tide times by visitingwww.tidetimes.org.uk/formby-tide-times

Phone reception on the beach is poor or not available at all. Make sure someone knows where you are andwhen to expect your return. Best of all, go with someoneto share the fun.

Human footprints

For more information on the Sefton Landscape Partnership Scheme please call 0151 934 2964email: landscape.partnership@sefton.gov.uk or visit www.visitsouthport.com/seftons-natural-coast

www.facebook.com/seftoncoast

@theseftoncoast

GETTING ABOUT

LeGAcY The muddy beds at Formby Point contain arare and precious record of the past. Tracingthe footprints offers us a unique way ofengaging with the people and animals thatformed them as they went about their dailylife over 4,000 years ago.

HOW THE FOOTPRINTS WERE FORMED

and sealed with more mud. As the mud accumulated and thebeach edge changed, the prints were buried and have remainedso for thousands of years.

In recent years, the sea has started to erode Formby Point.Sometimes, the force of the sea strips the sand from the mud,which is too solid to be easily lifted. Occasionally, the sand ispulled from the dunes or from the lower areas of the beach, to cover the outcrops of mud. This means that we cannot becertain from day to day whether the outcrops containing thefootprints will be visible but, when the mud is exposed,Formby's ancient footprints can offer a unique glimpse into theprehistoric life of the Sefton Coast.

The outcrops of sediment closest to the dunes arethe newest and are about 4,000 years old. Thefurthest out to sea are the oldest and are about7,000 years old. Their formation is outlined below;

About 12,000 years ago the last Ice Age ended. The ice sheetsthat had covered the northern half of Britain began to melt,leading to massive rises in sea level. About 9,000 years ago, ahuge sandbar formed off the present coast of Formby,protecting the area from the sea and creating a lagoon withinit. Fast-flowing streams running out to sea dumped largeamounts of mud into the lagoon, forming a salt-marsh.Reeds colonised the mud, with alder and oak trees on land,forming a fringe to the lagoon. Many animals and peoplewalked through the reeds. In the spring and summer, theirfootprints were baked hard in the mud, then filled with sand

DID YOU KNOW?The Alder roots in the sedimentappear to be growing up out of themud. In fact they grew down intoit. The Alder roots date fromaround 2,000 BC, but the mudinto which they grew wasconsiderably older.

Formby’s sediment beds host some of the finest prehistoricfootprints discoveredin the world.

PREHISTORIC TIMELINE

10,000 BC9,000 BC8,000 BC7,000 BC6,000 BC5,000 BC4,000 BC3,000 BC2,000 BC1,000 BC0 BC

Ice Age Ends

Beginning of theMesolithic Age in Britain(Hunter-gatherer)

Sandbar forms andreed beds grow

House structures onthe River Alt at Lunt

First footprintsform in thesediment

Beginning ofthe NeolithicAge in Britain(Farming)

Beginning of the Iron Age

3,000 - 2,400 BC Stonehenge

Footprints on the beach end atthe beginning of the Bronze Age

A guided walk

Photographing the prints

Aurochs print

Layers of mud

Red Deer print

Prehistoric

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SPOTTING THE PRINTS

Red DeerPrint SizePrehistoric range: 10-15cmModern Average: 9cm

Wild BoarPrint SizePrehistoric size: 8cmModern Average: Variable

The people of the intertidal marshy reed-beds were hunter-gatherers, drawn to the area by the openness of the environmentand its rich food supply. The reed-beds enabled groups to foragefor food such as eggs, shellfish, seaweed, seeds and fish in theshallow water. Hunting for Red Deer, a very important resourceat the time, may also have taken place as several sets of Red Deerand human prints have been found appearing to run together.

The footprints of men, women and children can be found in themud along the whole length of the beach. Some prints runparallel to the sea and probably indicate that people walkedbetween communities. Others, such as those seen at Gypsy WoodPath, suggest people moving from their encampment furtherinland onto the salt-marshes.

HumansPrint SizeAdult males: 22-31cm, 4-13 UK shoe size,5’6”-6’1” estimated heightAdult females and adolescents: 18-25cm, 1-7UK shoe size, 3’8”-5’9” estimated heightToddlers and children: 5-16cm, 9cm = child’sUK shoe size 1. 16 cm = child’s size 9, 1’2” -3’8” estimated height

A very large type of wild ox, the Aurochs was approximately 6 feet high at the shoulder and 11 feet long, with large, forward-pointing horns. It would have been a fearsome sight to the humans on the beach if encountered unexpectedly! Aurochsprints can be found on the southern areas of the beach, usually at Lifeboat Road and Blundell Path.

There are more Red Deer prints on the beach than of those ofany other animal. They can be found along the whole beach, butmost can be seen in the mud between Lifeboat Road andVictoria Road. These Red Deer were much larger than the breedliving today.

Roe DeerPrint SizePrehistoric range: 4-5cmModern Average: 4-5cm

Roe Deer frequently grazed in the marshes, probably with theRed Deer at dawn and dusk. Their prints can be found with RedDeer and look similar but they are much smaller and rounded atthe back, with a division of the hoof at the front.

OystercatcherPrint SizePrehistoric range: 4-7cmModern Average: 6 cm

CranePrint SizePrehistoric size: 15cmModern Average: 15cm

Flocks of sea birds came to the reed-beds to shelter, feed and breed. Oystercatchers were one of the most commonbirds along the coast. Their footprints can often be foundin the mud.

Cranes are no longer found in the north of England, butduring prehistoric times were commonly found in coastalregions. They would have nested in the trees behind thebeach in seasonal residential communities.

Dog/WolfPrint SizePrehistoric size:8cmModern Average:Variable

The prints of the Wolf and Dog areso similar that they would probablyhave looked the same in the mud.They are rarely spotted and aredifficult to distinguish from prints left by modern dogs onthe beach. A jawbone of a Neolithic dog was discoveredsome years ago. Its dating, along with that of a set of RedDeer antlers, helped to establish the age of the prints. Dogswere not domesticated at this time, but they may haveassociated with humans on the beach.

FootPrints Most coMMonLYFoUnD At ForMBY PointUse the scale measure and the drawings below to identify the prints. Some prints are distorted becauseof the wetness of the mud and erosion, so all measurements are estimates.

DID YOU KNOW?Children often played in the marshes at Formbyseveral thousand years ago. Their footprints can befound in the mud. Sometimes they ran around incircles as they played.

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1SCALE RULER (CM)

GUIDE TO

The prints of the Wild Boar are seldom spotted, but have been seenrecently at Blundell Path. The Wild Boar would have eaten shoots ofthe reeds and would have enjoyed rooting about in the mud.

AurochsPrint SizePrehistoric range: 22-28cmModern Average: Now Extinct

FoLLoWinG the

DID YOU KNOW?The Aurochs would have loved wallowing in themuddy marshland to cool down during the summer.It became extinct during the Bronze Age in Britain,but survived elsewhere in Europe until 1627.

Aurochs

Crane

Adult human footprints

Footprints of children playing

Red Deer footprints

Adult human footprint

Wolf

Crane footprints

FootPrintsTHE MUDDY OUTCROPS ARE FOUND AT VARIOUSPOINTS ALONG THE BEACH. THEY FORM BANDS ORSMALL PATCHES OF HARDENED MUD, LEADING OUTFROM THE DUNES TO THE SEA. EACH OUTCROPCONTAINS SEVERAL LAYERS OF MUD. IT IS WITHINTHESE THAT THE FOOTPRINTS CAN BE SEEN.

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