The ancient footprints that were found on a fire pit on Calvert Island, off the coast of British Columbia, are believed to be the oldest footprints ever found in North America.

The footprints that are of two adults and a child date back to more than 13,000 years. They were found last year on soft clay covered with black sand near the shore by a team of archeologists from the Hakai Institute and the University of Victoria. The team was led Dr. Daryl Fedje and Dr. Duncan McLaren.

The prints appear to be focused around the fire pit, which has only been partially uncovered. The first find was made by Dr. Fedje. However, it was an obscure, single print and its age wasn't known. After radiocarbon dating, the researchers found that they were looking at something extremely old.

The new research on the unearthed footprints has added evidence that the first people didn't arrive in the Americas using an ice-free corridor east of the Rockies about 12,000 years ago, and rather followed a route down the Pacific Coast much earlier.

Dr. McLaren said, "When we started finding them, the excitement in the air was electric. It was really quite amazing. You know there is no doubt in my mind what we were finding. It was just really cool".

Dr. McLaren mentioned that they decided to go back and open up the same area this year. They found a fire hearth feature and a dozen footprints, some of which were obscure and overlapped. However, there were individual toes and heels in some cases.