Summary: | Abstract New data on the foraminifers and the regional geological setting of the Trachilos sediments (NW Crete, Greece) from which Gierlinski et al. (Proc Geol Assoc 128: 697–710, 2017) described hominin-like footprints show that the published 6.05 Ma-shallow marine interpretation is incorrect. In our new interpretation, the Trachilos succession is Late Pliocene and part of a shallowing marine series that became subaerially exposed some 3 millions of years ago. Placed in a larger geological context, Crete was an island during the Late Pliocene and separated by ~ 100 km of open sea from the nearest European mainland, and therefore out of reach of Late Pliocene hominins.
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