300,000 YEAR-OLD FOOTPRINTS DISCOVERED GIVING MORE INSIGHT TO HUMAN LIFE

Recently, a group of archaeologists discovered 300,000-year-old footprints in Lower Saxony, near what is now Schöningen. These footprints, which are currently the oldest found in Germany, shed more light on the origins and evolution of humanity.

In an article for Quaternary Science Reviews, the scientists who made this discovery shared their findings. It gives a general notion of what the surrounding terrain would have looked like when this early human species—known as the "Heidelberg people"—was on Earth.

This would-be landscape includes a lake, a pine and an open-birch forest, and several enormous creatures that are now extinct. It may sound more hypothetical than anything, but the team of archaeologists also discovered prints from these creatures while doing their investigation, which suggests that early humans and animals not only coexisted in the region at the same time but were also able to do so to some extent.

The researchers' theory of coexistence is further supported by the fact that this archaeological find contains not one, but three different humanoid footprints. Two of the three footprints probably belonged to younger people. According to the study, "this was definitely a family outing rather than a group of adult hunters based on the tracks, including those of children and juveniles."

According to study researcher Flavio Altamura, the traces further support the idea that the early humans of Schöningen "dwelt on lake or river margins with shallow water." Depending on the season, the Heidelberg people and their fauna buddies would have been able to forage for a variety of local plants, leaves, shoots, fruits, and mushrooms. 

The Pleistocene rhinoceros species and the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, are two examples of extinct animals that may have coexisted with early humans. The first of its sort in modern-day Europe, if these identifications are accurate, would raise more concerns about what life was like all those millennia ago.

In addition to expanding our knowledge of early human life 300,000 years ago, this amazing archaeological find provides a clear picture of potential coexistence between ancient wildlife and humans. Even if the footprints were only a footprint in the mud, they serve as a reminder that humanity was already making its imprint long before.