Footprint Stones

In different parts of the world humanity’s relationship with the natural environment, especially stone, has been expressed in different ways. People worshipped natural rocks, adorned rock surfaces with markings, and erected megalithic structures of both natural and dressed stones. This paper focuses on one often minimally noted aspect of the relationship we have had with rocks – namely, footprint stones. In some places human footprints were deliberately carved, in others natural depressions were perceived to be in the form of foot soles, and sometimes hands, hoofs, etc. Here we overview different types of and points of view on footprint stones and the history of their study. This Note focuses primarily on the matter of footprint stones in European research, especially, though not exclusively, by comparing two iconic works – God’s Footprints by Polish researcher Maximilian Baruch (1907), and Footprints in Stone by British writer, Janet Bord (2004)

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Footprint · Humanity · Megalith · Natural (archaeology · Natural stone · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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