In the Footprints of Our Ancestors: An Overview of the Hominid Track Record

Hominid footprints are particularly appealing and evocative of the living activity of our ancestors. The most famous and oldest (Late Pliocene, ca. 3.7 Ma) hominid footprints, from Laetoli in East Africa, have been attributed, with some uncertainly, to genus Homo or Australopithecus. The African track record also yields Early Pleistocene (∼1.5 Ma) tracks attributable to Homo erectus. The only well-documented Middle Pleistocene tracks (age ∼325,000-385,000 yrs) are reported from Italy and presumably represent a pre-Homo sapiens species. The oldest Late Pleistocene tracks (∼117,000 yrs), from southern Africa, may represent modern humans. However, the majority of Late Pleistocene sites are European, associated with caves in Romania, Greece, France and elsewhere, where hominid track preservation is often of high quality. Dates range from ∼10,000 to ∼62,000 BP Cavesite mammal tracks are almost exclusively those of carnivores, thus representing a distinctive underground ecology. Late Pleistocene open air sites ...