http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3650497/That-really-tracking-prey-Footprints-left-Homo-erectus-hunting-party-800-000-years-ago-discovered-Eritrean-desert.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
How early humans stalked their prey: Footprints left by our
800,000-year-old ancestors are discovered in East Africa
Footprints of 'multiple' individuals found preserved in slab of sandstone
The prints appear to have been made in wet sand on the shore of a lake
They appear alongside the hoof prints left by extinct species of antelope
Although not the oldest human footprints, they may reveal new details
about how our ancestors walked upright and the anatomy of their feet
By Richard Gray For MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 08:31 EST, 20 June 2016 | UPDATED: 10:04 EST, 20 June 2016
Stalking across the sandy shoreline of a lake around 800,000 years
ago, a small hunting party closed in on a herd of antelope that had
come to drink from water's edge.
Now the footprints these early human hunters left in the soft sediment
as they approached their prey have re-emerged for the first time since
they were made.
Anthropologists discovered the tracks of 'multiple' individuals, which
they believe were created by the early human species Homo erectus, in
the middle of the desert in southern Eritrea.
Scattered across a 280 square feet (26 square metres) stone slab, the
fossilised footprints are the oldest to have been discovered in the
area.
They promise to reveal new details about how this prehistoric human
ancestor walked.
Homo erectus is thought to be the first early species of Homo to have
been recognisably human – walking upright on two legs and similar in
size to modern man.
The footprints, which were discovered at a site near Buia in the
middle of the Danakil desert in southern Eritrea.
The area is thought to have been home to a community of Homo erectus
living there up to one million years ago.
Professor Alfredo Coppa, an anthropologist at La Spaienza University
in Rome, has been leading excavations at the site - Aalad-Amo – for
several years.
The prints were discovered moving north to south, alongside prints
left by an extinct species of antelope that had been preserved when
the lake flooded and the sand hardened.
Speaking to MailOnline, Professor Coppa said the footprints were made
by 'more than one individual' and could reveal new details about the
foot anatomy and movement of these human ancestors.
He said: 'Due to their ephemeral nature in soft sediments, footprints
tend to be altered and eroded very quickly.
The preservation of the imprints of footsteps is an exceptional
phenomenon representing a glimpse of the lives of Homo erectus
individuals in motion in their ecosystem hundreds of thousand years
ago.
'Homo erectus a key species in human evolution that evolved into the
big-brained ancestors of modern people today.
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Anthropologists say the footprint were made by 'more than one'
individual and promise to reveal new insights into how humans evolved
to walk upright. The prints reveal details of the toes, footshape and
arch. A scan of the sandstone slab with the footprints is pictured
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The footprints were found at a site called Aalad-Amo in the middle of
the Danakil desert in southern Eritrea (shown on map above)
'The print shapes resemble the prints made by modern humans,
suggesting an overall modern foot shape and way of walking.
'Fossil sets of footprints are very rare. Those found in Eritrea show
details of the toes, and the foot shape includes a prominent arch and
big toe in line with the others, features that make human feet
distinctive and efficient when walking and running.'
The prints were discovered by Professor Coppa and his team's local
Eritrean guide, Hussain.
At first glance the footprints appear to be very similar to those left
by modern humans, but closer examination has revealed they belonged to
a far older species.
Professor Coppa and his colleagues at the National Museum of Eritrea
are now conducting scanning and dating of the rock in the hope of
confirming who they belong to.
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The prints (pictured) were initially spotted by the research teams
local guide. They are the odlest footprints to be found in Eritrea and
were discovered at a site where the remains of five to six Homo
erectus individuals have been discovered in the past
They are, however, far from being the oldest footprints left by an
early human species that have been discovered.
A series of tracks discovered in Laetoli in Tanzania date back 3.7
million years and were probably left by an early human species like
Australopithecus afarensis.
Last year anthropologists announced the discovery of dozens of human
footprints in Kenya dating back 1.5 million years.
They are thought to have been left by a group of Homo erectus during
an antelope hunt.
In 2014 researchers announced they had discovered what are thought to
be the oldest human footprints outside Africa, discovered in
Happisburgh, Norfolk.
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The footprints were found alongside the hoof prints of extinct
antelope (pictured), leading researchers to believe they may have been
left by a hunting party tracking the antelope
Around 50 prints, of both adults and children, are thought to be at
least 850,000 years old and may have been made by an extinct human
ancestor known as Homo antecessor.
Professor Coppa said the age of the prints discovered in Danakil have
yet to be confirmed but if they relate to the human remains found in
the surround area they are likely to be around 800,000 years old.
Speaking to MailOnline, Professor Coppa said: 'At that time, we have
evidence that only Homo erectus lived in that area. The level where we
find the footprints is well dated geologically.
'It was probably more than one individual who left the footprints, but
we need more accurate evidence to be more accurate.
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Homo erectus (skull pictured left, reconstruction pictured right) is
thought to have been a key early human ancestor in our own evolution.
Although it had a smaller brain than modern humans, Homo erectus is
thought to have mastered the use of fire and basic stone tools
'We will return in November to try to have a broader and more detailed
documentation that can look at body mass, height, weight and
sociability of the group.'
His team have discovered several teeth and part of a skull at the two
sites in Danakil in the past. They say they have found the remains of
five or six individuals.
At the time the area is thought to have been covered in a vast lake
surrounded by grassland.
Whether this band of early human hunters managed to snare any prey
during their hunt is not clear, but the marks they left in the sand as
they closed in have survived the test of time.
Professor Coppa said he believes there may be far more footprint at
the site waiting to be uncovered.
He said: 'The probable Homo erectus footprints found at Aalad-Amoare
preserved in an indurated silty sand sediment that was uncovered by
water erosion, and may represent multiple individuals.
'Currently, 26 square metres of the sediment bearing the footprints is
exposed and much more of the surface appears to remain covered by
overlying sediments.'
Received on Mon Jun 20 2016 - 13:31:46 EDT