‘Daybreak’ Occurred 117,000 Years Ago
Three footprints are left in the sands of time.
They’re human ones, at that.
The conjecture is they are those of a woman.
They’re estimated to be at least 117,000 years old.
This mind-boggling discovery was made in 1995 in what geologist David Roberts describes as “a ledge of sandstone at the edge of Langebaan Lagoon, near the Atlantic coast, in southwest South Africa about 60 miles north of Cape Town,” according to an Associated Press report.
It’s believed the fossilized prints belong to a direct ancestor of today’s human beings.
And there also is a possibility that she is related to the hypothetical “Eve,” who lived in Africa 100,000 to 300,000 years ago. Paleontologists suggest that Eve may be our common ancestor.
Lee Berger, a paleontologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg who reported the finding in the National Geographic, says “the prints are 8-1/2 inches long and made by a person about 5 foot 3 inches to 5 foot 4 inches tall.”
Berger asserts that the ancient owner of the footprints, an African woman, would be able to fit into a size 7 or 7-1/2 woman’s shoe if she were alive today. And it’s not speculation but a fact that she was walking barefoot in the sand.
These are a lot of details to absorb about something that happened eons ago, and I find them fascinating.
As brilliant as the find and the theories about it are, it seems to me that one important question remains unasked:
Where was this woman going when she walked, as it is reported, “downhill through wet sand”? What was the purpose of her outing?
I’m not an anthropologist, paleontologist, geologist or scientist of any kind. Nonetheless, after mulling over the discovery for quite a while, I have come up with some insights into what was going on the day our long-lost ancestor took that walk.
Here are my theories about the woman I have named “Daybreak,” in contrast to “Eve”:
Daybreak, being barefoot, probably also was pregnant and was on her way to an appointment with her female gynecologist.
She was going to work and couldn’t afford a car, public transportation was sporadic and she had to be at her clerical job by 8:30 a.m. sharp or her pay would be docked.
Daybreak couldn’t afford shoes because she was paid only 75 percent of what her male counterparts received for comparable work and hours.
Daybreak was being sexually harassed by a co-worker - a former Army drill sergeant - and was trying to get away from him. She lost her shoes making her escape but wrote down on a stone tablet the date and time of the harassment to create a “rock” trail of events.
Even before she could start her trek to work, Daybreak had to leave her three small children off at the baby-sitter’s cave. It wasn’t the best or most convenient arrangement for her, but it was her only option: She couldn’t afford a nanny or baby-sitter. And the company Daybreak worked for refused to provide or underwrite any form of child care or even child-care referral.
She was hurrying to work to get there early so she could make a good impression on her boss. A major job had just opened up at her office and she was in line for promotion. But Daybreak knew it was a long line: She had been passed over three times previously. In fact, neither she nor any of her female co-workers had ever managed to get out of the steno lake.
And here’s my favorite explanation for the series of events preceding the imprint of her bare feet in the sand:
Daybreak was dashing off to meet Eve to form a woman’s network. They had decided they weren’t going to let the Neanderthal “old cave boys network” push them around any more.
And that was long ago.
xxxx Women and Work appears Tuesdays on the INLife People page.