( CNN ) -- Ancient footprints discovered in northern Kenya are believed to be the oldest sign that early humans had feet like ours . The footprints were found in two sedimentary layers , 1.5 million years old , near Ileret in the eastern African nation . The footprints were found in two sedimentary layers , 1.5 million years old , near Ileret in the eastern African nation . `` These rarest of impressions yielded information about soft tissue form and structure not normally accessible in fossilized bones . The Ileret footprints constitute the oldest evidence of an essentially modern human-like foot anatomy , '' according to a team of anthropologists who detailed the discovery in the February 27 issue of the journal Science . The team , led by anthropologist Professor John W.K . Harris and an international group of colleagues , excavated the site between 2006 and 2008 . Harris , who teaches at Rutgers University and the State University of New Jersey , is a member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies and directs the Koobi Fora Field Project . The ongoing excavation project is run by Rutgers in collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya . Koobi Fora refers to a region around Koobi Fora Ridge , located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana . The area has been a rich resource for excavations . According to the authors of the journal article , there were three footprint trails in the upper sediment layer . Five meters deeper , another sediment surface preserved one trail of two prints and a single , smaller print , likely from a child . `` In these specimens , the big toe is parallel to the other toes , unlike that of apes where it is separated in a grasping configuration useful in the trees . The footprints show a pronounced human-like arch and short toes , typically associated with an upright bipedal stance , '' the scientists said . `` The size , spacing and depth of the impressions were the basis of estimates of weight , stride and gait , all found to be within the range of modern humans . '' The size and other characteristics of the prints led the authors to conclude the prints belonged to the hominid Homo ergaster , or early Homo erectus . This is the first hominid to have had the same body proportions -- longer legs and shorter arms -- as modern Homo sapiens . Other hominid fossil footprints dating to 3.6 million years ago were discovered in 1978 by Mary Leakey at Laetoli , Tanzania . `` These are attributed to the less advanced Australopithecus afarensis , a possible ancestral hominid . The smaller , older Laetoli prints show indications of upright bipedal posture , but possess a shallower arch and a more ape-like , divergent big toe , '' the authors said .
The footprints were found in two sedimentary layers that were 1.5 million years old . Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: The prints show a big toe parallel to other toes , unlike that of apes . Believed first hominid to have had same body proportions as modern Homo sapiens .