More than 400 ancient human footprints roughly 12,000 to 14,000 years old were found preserved near the village of Engare Sero in Northern Tanzania. Preserved in hardened volcanic sediment, these ancient footprints gave the scientists a glimpse of what ancient life was like. These footprints, says evolutionary biologist Kevin Hatala, “add up to the largest collection of ancient human footprints ever found in Africa”.
At Engare Sero, Hatala’s team analyzed foot impression sizes, distances between prints and which way prints pointed. One collection of tracks was made by a group of 17 people walking southwest across the landscape, the researchers found. Comparisons with modern human footprint measurements indicate that this group consisted of 14 women, two men and one young boy.
The women may have been foraging for food, while a few males visited or accompanied them, the researchers speculate.
Check out more details about this study over at ScienceNews.
(Image Credit: Cynthia-Liutkus-Pierce/ ScienceNews)