On February 6, 2004, the Office of Cultural Properties announced that a human footprint fossil had been discovered for the first time in Sangmo-ri, Southern Jeju. Despite the discovery of this valuable fossil, how much closer are we to knowing the fossil's true worth?
     First, let's look into the human footprint fossil's formative period, about which many scholars have shown keen interest. There are two major but similar theories on the formation of this fossil. The first theory says that the fossil was created 5,000 years ago, while another scholar has dated it as being 4,900 years old, based on the age of mollusk shells around the fossil. Because of the age of the fossil, many people wonder if the fossil came into contact with Jeju's prehistoric inhabitants. Prof. Son Yeong Gwan of Kyong-sang National University and Prof. Park Ki-Hwa of the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources were present at the Ministry's announcement. According to their speech, Jeju's coast used to be composed of large amounts of aqueous volcanic rock. Jeju Island itself formed relatively recently, just 13,000 years ago. To understand how Jeju formed, one must know about different types of aqueous volcanic sedimentary rock strata such as Sinyang-ri strata and Hamo-ri strata. These sedimentary layers formed about 4,000~5,000 years ago. The recently-discovered human footprints were contained in the Hamo-ri stratum which is approximately 4,000 years old. The fossil has great scientific value to the world. Many professors are expecting that potentially important data will be gleaned from the fossil, for example the migration path of humans and the anatomical structure of our ancestors on the Korean Peninsula. The fossilized footprint can also tell us something about how early humans lived. The fossil suggests that humans in Southern Jeju lived alongside the animals of that period, so it is important to investigate that relationship. The fossilized human foot

-prints should be registered as cultural assets. The NamJeju county authorities recently applied for the "Millenium Monument" designation for Fossil Footprints Park, which is located in Sangmo-ri, population 41,000.
      Finally, on September 2, 2005 the whole area was designated as National Cultural Property Millenium Monument no. 464. The relevant authorities in Namjeju county are pushing forward various businesses and plans to build a fossil pavilion and fossil park. The human footprint fossil site has big potential for attracting tourist resources because it has a lot of scientific value in archaeology, anthropology, and ancient ecology. However, the fossilized footprint site is being damaged by heavy foot traffic from curious tourists visiting the newly famous site.
      Consequently, Namjeju County had to set up a barbed-wire fence, protective wall, and protective covering to prevent further damage to the site and has also arranged for security officers and government employees to patrol the site. Despite such measures, some people are still trying to speak into the site to catch a glimpse of the fossil and authorities aren't doing more to keep people out. Also the footprint fossil
site has become an eyesore because of tourists?littering. We need to treasure our cultural properties and the authorities must take radical measures to protect such cultural treasures.

By Ko Su Yeon