Ancient Footprints Dating Back 300 Thousand Years Found in Germany

An important discovery related to the history of human evolution was made in the territory of Germany. This was reported by Zamin.uz.

An international team of scientists led by the University of Tübingen identified fossilized footprints belonging to ancient humans who lived 300,000 years ago in the Lower Saxony region. This finding was published in the Popular Mechanics journal.

Analysis revealed that these footprints belong to the species Homo heidelbergensis, which lived approximately 700,000 to 200,000 years ago in Europe and Africa and is considered an ancestor of Neanderthals. The footprints were found near an ancient lake, among birch and pine forests.

According to scientists, children lived in this area alongside adults, as small-sized footprints were also present. Experts emphasize that these footprints indicate that entire family members lived together around a water source.

Additionally, among the findings were footprints of ancient elephants weighing up to 13 tons – Palaeoloxodon antiquus – and rhinoceroses from the Pleistocene era. Scientists state that this discovery signifies that humans and animals shared natural resources during that period.

These findings provide an opportunity to study human history and evolution more deeply and raise new questions. Thus, the discovery holds significant importance in expanding our knowledge about human evolution.