Discovered in 2007 below the high tide mark, between Gwely'r Misgl and Sker Point, the dating of footprints at kenfig are estimated between the beginning of the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 2nd century AD.

The footprints were first reported to the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust and investigated by their Dr Edith Evans and Elizabeth Walker from the National Museum of Wales - they estimated them to be 2000 years old. These findings were based on peat beds exposed at Blackpill near Swansea, but there are at least three levels of peat on Kenfig Sands and that containing the footprints is the lowest uncovered by the outgoing tide. The upper peat bed at Kenfig has yielded hoofprints of cattle which could show evidence of farming in the region.

An expert in the field of hominid tracks, Dr Silvia Gonzalez of John Moores University Liverpool, carried out a full survey of the site, identifying prints from at least two adults and a child, giving rise to the possibility of a settlement nearby. The footprints are the latest of just 56 sites of hominid footprints in the world and the only ones yet discovered in peat, making them unique. Dr Gonzalez estimated they were at least 4,500 years old and said that something quite cataclysmic must have occurred soon after they were made to have preserved them so well.

As the footprints were made in peat, they can yield far more than others discovered in rock or mud - a detailed report is due out by Dr Gonzalez in the near future.

Source: Kindly supplied by Steve Maitland Thomas, who, in addition to John Blundell discovered the footprints on Kenfig Sands in January 2007.

Photo: Glamorgan Gwent Archaelogical Trust