Science

Neanderthal footprint discovery sheds new light on social groups


Neanderthal footprint discovery is one of the first to shed light on social groups as 80,000-year-old fossils show a gathering of up to 14 individuals made almost entirely of adolescents and children

  • Experts studied 257 fossilised Neanderthal footprints from Normandy, France
  • The tracks were made in dunes that were rapidly covered by sand and preserved 
  • Analysis of the tracks’ sizes suggest they were made by young Neanderthals
  • The site is one of only two to reveal the size and make-up of Neanderthal groups

Hundreds of Neanderthal footprints dating back to around 80,000 years ago have been unearthed from a coastal creek in Normandy.

The footprints were made in dunes and were preserved when sand was swept over the prints by the wind. 

Most of the tracks were made by children and adolescents, with one particular group of prints thought to have been made by around 10–14 individuals.

The fossilised tracks are one of the only archaeological sites to reveal information about the make-up of Neanderthal social groups.

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Hundreds of Neanderthal footprints dating back to around 80,000 years ago have been unearthed from a coastal creek in Normandy

Hundreds of Neanderthal footprints dating back to around 80,000 years ago have been unearthed from a coastal creek in Normandy

Palaeoanthropologist Jérémy Duveau of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris and colleagues analysed 257 fossilised Neanderthal footprints from the an archaeological site in La Rozel, in Normandy, France.

The prints — which date back to around 80,000 years ago — presently lie in the bed of a coastal creek and are the largest known collection of Neanderthal tracks.

They would have been formed at a time when the ground was part of a dune, with wind-blown sand covering and preserving the tracks.

Studying the length and the width of the prints suggests that most of them were made by children and adolescents — with the youngest likely only two years old.

Alongside footprints, the researchers also found eight handprints and six track left behind by animals.

The size and shape of the hominin prints are all consistent with those that would have been left behind by Neanderthals, the authors noted.

Furthermore, they added that the traces date back to a time when Neanderthals would have been the only hominin living in Western Europe.

The team also unearthed stone tools at the La Rozel site that were similar in design to those found at other Neanderthals sites of a similar age from across Europe. 

Most of the tracks were made by children and adolescents, with one particular group of prints thought to have been made by around 10–14 individuals

Most of the tracks were made by children and adolescents, with one particular group of prints thought to have been made by around 10–14 individuals

The prints — which date back to around 80,000 years ago — presently lie in the bed of a coastal creek and are the largest known collection of Neanderthal tracks

The prints — which date back to around 80,000 years ago — presently lie in the bed of a coastal creek and are the largest known collection of Neanderthal tracks

Alongside footprints, the researchers also found eight handprints, like that pictured top, and six track left behind by animals, like pictured bottom. The size and shape of the hominin prints are all consistent with those that would have been left behind by Neanderthals

Alongside footprints, the researchers also found eight handprints, like that pictured top, and six track left behind by animals, like pictured bottom. The size and shape of the hominin prints are all consistent with those that would have been left behind by Neanderthals

The researchers did not find any skeletal remains of Neanderthals at the site. 

An advantage to studying fossilised footprints, however, comes in how they can present a snapshot of past behaviour in a way that body fossils typically cannot.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Palaeoanthropologist Jérémy Duveau of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris and colleagues analysed 257 fossilised Neanderthal footprints from the an archaeological site in La Rozel, in Normandy, France

Palaeoanthropologist Jérémy Duveau of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris and colleagues analysed 257 fossilised Neanderthal footprints from the an archaeological site in La Rozel, in Normandy, France

WHO WERE THE NEANDERTHALS?

The Neanderthals were a close human ancestor that mysteriously died out around 50,000 years ago.

The species lived in Africa with early humans for hundreds of millennia before moving across to Europe around 500,000 years ago.

They were later joined by humans taking the same journey some time in the past 100,000 years. 

The Neanderthals were a cousin species of humans but not a direct ancestor - the two species split from a common ancestor -  that perished around 50,000 years ago. Pictured is a Neanderthal museum exhibit

The Neanderthals were a cousin species of humans but not a direct ancestor – the two species split from a common ancestor –  that perished around 50,000 years ago. Pictured is a Neanderthal museum exhibit

These were the original ‘cavemen’, historically thought to be dim-witted and brutish compared to modern humans.

In recent years though, and especially over the last decade, it has become increasingly apparent we’ve been selling Neanderthals short.

A growing body of evidence points to a more sophisticated and multi-talented kind of ‘caveman’ than anyone thought possible.

It now seems likely that Neanderthals buried their dead with the concept of an afterlife in mind.

Additionally, their diets and behaviour were surprisingly flexible.

They used body art such as pigments and beads, and they were the very first artists, with Neanderthal cave art (and symbolism) in Spain apparently predating the earliest modern human art by some 20,000 years.



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