By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — The site of the oldest footprints in the northern hemisphere on Valentia Island, County Kerry, is being purchased by the Irish government and will be declared a national treasure in an effort to protect them.
The move comes as new legislation is being prepared by Heritage Minister Sile de Valera to safeguard geological sites being raided by thieves, who sell the valuable fossils to collectors abroad.
At the moment there are no laws to stop the fossil pirates looting prime scientific sites scattered over at least seven counties.
The Valentia footprints are the jewels of the country’s fossils and have attracted major international interest since a Swiss scientist discovered them in 1993. They have just been featured in the National Geographic magazine.
The prehistoric footprints are thought to have been made by a meter long primitive amphibian over 385 million years ago. The dinosaur era did not begin until about 155 million years later.
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The 15-meter trackway of parallel footprints, preserved in Valentia slate outcrops on sea cliffs, were precisely dated using minerals in a layer of volcanic ash above the trackway.
The site is being bought by the state and it is planned that a parking lot will be built and access provided to viewing points without endangering the footprints.
"It will be a flagship project as it is the first site being purchased as an Irish geological monument. It is of huge international importance and has the potential to be a major tourist attraction," according to Dr. Matthew Parkes of the Geological Survey of Ireland.
Similar footprints were discovered preserved in a paving slab in Australia. Though they are thought to be older, the dating is less definitive than for the Valentia discovery.
"The footprints are very important because they mark the transition for vertebrates which had been living in water. They came out to live on land and developed limbs and breathed air."
Dr. Parkes is also investigating other fossil sites, which will be listed as heritage areas in new legislation.
Hook Head in County Wexford, where there is abundant fossil fauna exposed in the low cliffs, is being constantly raided by thieves who use crowbars to pry off sections of the rock face.
"It is a serious problem with unscrupulous people taking fossils away, but the local people have become much more protective of them," Parkes said.