Man's appearance may have changed drastically over the millennia, but one part of our anatomy has stayed very much the same - our feet.
Analysis of the bones of one of our ancient cousins, Homo naledi, revealed striking similarities with modern day man.
The huge haul - as yet undated - were discovered in a small, dark chamber at the back of the Rising Star Cave in South Africa.
The announcement sparked joy among scientists as it filled in another piece of our species' evolutionary history.
Now a team of anthropologists from Dartmouth College have carried out a painstaking analysis of the 1,600 fossil fragments , of which 107 are foot bones.
These include one nearly-complete adult foot and parts thought to have belonged to two other adults and a juvenile.
A study detailing the results of the analysis is to be published in the journal Nature Communications today.
Lead author Doctor Jeremy DeSilva said his team found that the "foot and ankle are very much like those of modern humans in form, structure and probable function".
He added: "It was a striding long-distance traveller with an arched foot and a non-grasping big toe with subtle differences from humans today in having somewhat more curved toes and a reduced arch.
"It looks like what the foot of Homo erectus might look like.
"Homo erectus is the earliest human with body proportions similar to our own, with long legs, short arms.
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