Dozens of Fossilized Neanderthal Footprints Found on a Beach in Spain

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Sat Apr 17, 2021, 05:17 AM - Edit history (1)

Isaac Schultz
Thursday 5:42PM



Paleoanthropologists have discovered more than 80 fossilized footprints in Southern Spain, on an uneven span of rock that used to be a sandbar. In their analysis, the research team determined the prints were made by 36 individuals, a group of Neanderthal adults and children.

The team’s findings are published in Scientific Reports. They come on the heels of the 2019 discovery of 80,000-year-old Neanderthal footprints on a beach near Le Rozel, France. The newly announced trace fossils date back to over 100,000 years ago, which may make them the oldest known Neanderthal prints.

“The discovery of these Neanderthal footprints is part of a period where more and more fossil hominin footprints are being discovered,” co-author Jérémy Duveau, a paleoanthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris who also studied the Le Rozel footprints, said in an email. Duveau noted that each successive discovery has improved paleoanthropologists’ techniques going forward, but “it is undeniable that, as in all paleontological or archaeological discoveries, there is a certain amount of luck involved.”

In June 2020, a crew of researchers led by Eduardo Mayoral, a paleontologist at the University of Huelva in Spain, saw fossilized animal tracks on the beach, which is called Matalascañas and is on the Iberian Coast in Doñana National Park. It was only later that they realized the ancient human presence.

More:
https://gizmodo.com/dozens-of-fossilized-neanderthal-footprints-found-on-a-1846694107

[soothsayer]

1. " These hominins were socially complex, fully capable of providing aid to members in need."

So the GQP aren’t Neanderthals after all!

That is a really interesting article all the way through. I had to go see why on earth footprints would become fossilized.