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From the earliest humans to the present day, there has always been a compulsion to ‘leave one’s mark’: early cave art includes thousands of hand outlines, while many churches in Britain have foot outlines inscribed in lead and stone. These two extremes span almost 30,000 years during which time all kinds of persons, real and legendary, have left visible traces of themselves. But 30,000 years ago seems almost recent, when compared with the finding of some (admittedly controversial) fossilized human footprints in rocks apparently contemporary with dinosaur footprints that are tens of millions of years old. Most of the footprints – and hand-prints, knee-prints, and impressions of other body parts – are clearly not real, having allegedly been impressed into rocks around the world by such high-profile figures as the Buddha, Vishnu, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary, as well as a vast panoply of saints, whose footprint traces and associated stories occupy two chapters. Their horses also left hoof-prints, and other animals are represented too. Not surprisingly, the ubiquitous Devil has a whole chapter to himself, but giants, villains and heroes, such as King Arthur, also feature strongly. Witches, fairies, ghosts, and monsters all put in an appearance; hundreds of imprints are described in this book, which concludes with location details for more than 100 imprint sites around the world. Heavily illustrated. Large-format paperback (264 pages), published by Heart of Albion Press, 2004. Signed copies available from us. This book can also be obtained through the publisher's website: www.hoap.co.uk |
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Footprints in Stone