Africa's biggest collection of ancient human footprints has been found

Science News ^ | May 14, 2020 | Bruce Bower

[SunkenCiv]

• Romanian cave holds some of the oldest human footprints (~36.5K years old) [7/21/2014]

  At a 2011 conference, scientists said that H. sapiens tracks at Tanzania's Engare Sero site were 120,000 years old. Those findings have not been published yet, suggesting to Webb a problem with dating or footprint authenticity. Nearly 1-million-year-old footprints of modern human ancestors were recently documented at a British site.

• Humans Created Earliest Modern Artifacts in Europe, Research Shows [5/17/2020]

[SunkenCiv]

[rktman]

Well who lost them in the first place? 🙀

[TexasGator]

“Well who lost them in the first place?”

Well?

[rktman]

Who’s on first?

[Grimmy]

I kinda have a problem with the interp being put on the why behind the prints.

If it was females on the forage, wouldn’t there be the same number both ways?

And, volcanic ash soft enough to leave prints and hardening up quick enough to keep the prints.

Might what we be seeing is scouts returning with a new location to move to and a general evacuation that comes from that?

[TalBlack]

that this group consisted of 14 women, two men and one young boy.

It’d be interesting to know what that was all about? Hope they weren’t traveling far...

[glennaro]

If the footprints show their prehistoric arses to be 6-feet apart we have a big problem here!

[TalBlack]

I read the article. The woman made the men go shopping with them..

Nothing changes.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

And then they probably yelled at the men for tracking muddy volcanic ash into the cave.

[Does so]

As I recall, the Laetoli site had footprints indicating the person had looked over his shoulder, (while turning slightly) and not missing a step .

[TexasGator]

Why?

[rktman]

Early glbtqrpxyz amazons?

[SaxxonWoods]

Why didn’t they keep following the tracks until they found the people?

Easy peasy.

[Thommas]

Some present-day hunter-gatherers, including Tanzania's Hadza people, form largely female food-gathering groups.

For some people, not much has changed in 10,000 years.

[SunkenCiv]

And every step of the way, one or the other of the females was harping about how the men never stop for directions.

[PistolPaknMama]

Fascinating! Thanks!

[House Atreides]

I read the article. The woman made the men go shopping with them..

Nothing changes.
*********************************************
Could they tell from the tracks who was pushing the cart?

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure.

[smvoice]

Check the foot size of the males...