Over 250 Neanderthal Footprints Reveal Clues to the Ancient Humans' Social Lives
By Nathaniel Scharping | September 10, 2019 3:15 pm
This is one of the Neanderthal footprints discovered at Le Rozel. (Credit: Image courtesy of Dominique Cliquet)
At first glimpse, it looks like the Neanderthals might have just vanished around the corner. Their footprints are engraved in the soft oceanside rock, like photographic negatives of their passage, seemingly ready to be swept away by the nearby ocean.
In reality, the impressions are around 80,000 years old, pressed into ancient sediments by a group of ancient humans and preserved by blowing sands. These footprints, 257 in all, were discovered in Normandy, France, and are the focus of a new analysis by researchers. They are revealing fresh insights into how Neanderthals lived, filling in gaps that bones and artifacts can’t speak to.
Walking Through Time
French scientists say they’re confident the footprints are of Neanderthal origin based on a few factors: the dimensions of the prints themselves (wide, and with a low arch) and the fact that Neanderthals were the only hominins known to be in Europe when they were laid down.
The footprints are located at a site called Le Rozel, on a peninsula on the country’s northwestern shore. The site was already known for its collection of preserved foot- and handprints from Neanderthals, as well as stone tools and butchered animal bones. Nearby caves were likely Neanderthal residences at various times.
More:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/09/10/neanderthal-footprints-le-rozel/
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HUMANS 9 September 2019
By Alison George
We know Neanderthals mated with us, painted on cave walls and may have used herbal medications. Now an analysis of the biggest tranche of Neanderthal footprints yet discovered offers a window into their lives.
The 257 fossil footprints were found in a coastal creek bed in Le Rozel in northern France. They were made around 80,000 years ago and preserved in sandy mud. Most of the footprints were from children and may show that Neanderthals could have been taller than previously thought.
“The discovery of so many Neanderthal footprints at one site is extraordinary,” says Isabelle de Groote at Liverpool John Moores University, who was not involved with the study.
Before this, only nine Neanderthal footprints were known, from 4 different sites, says Jérémy Duveau of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in France, who led the team that carried out the analysis. “Footprints are very interesting because they give a snapshot of a moment of life of hominins such as Neanderthals, and allow us to estimate the size and composition of the group that made them.” This kind of information is hard to obtain from other archaeological artefacts such as skeletons and tools.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2215803-ancient-footprints-show-neanderthals-may-have-been-taller-than-thought/#ixzz5zCmAJtoX
("Mated with us"?)
Speak for yourself. 