Scientists from the University of Tübingen discovered 300,000-year-old human footprints, the oldest in Germany. Research published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
The footprints were found next to a lake at the Schöningen Paleolithic complex in Lower Saxony. Footprints believed to belong to the extinct Heidelberg man (homo heidelbergensis) was surrounded by the footprints of several animals. Presumably, people used this lake for food and could live next to it.
“According to the footprints, including traces of children and teenagers, it was probably a family trip and not a group of adult hunters,” the scientists said.
In addition to human footprints, a team of scientists also studied the 55 cm footprint of extinct elephants. Palaeoloxodon antiquus – an elephant with straight tusks, which at that time was the largest land animal and adults reached a body weight of up to 13 tons. There’s also a rhino footprint – Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis or Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. Its traces were first encountered in Europe. These giants may have gathered by the lake to drink or bathe.