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
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
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
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