14,000-year-old cave footprints provide snapshot of Stone Age family day out

[Soph0571]

A Stone Age family of five crawled through a narrow Italian cave 14,000 years ago because they were curious about what was inside, according to a new study. They carried makeshift torches and wooden sticks to guide them through the darkness – and may even have brought their dog in too.

Researchers analysed the ancient tracks left in a layer of clay inside a deep cave of Bàsura in the Toirano cave complex in northern Italy.

It is the first time crawling has been documented in ancient humans, according to researchers from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Around 180 prints were made by these curious prehistoric explorers who crawled through the low cave using their hands, knees and the balls of their feet. The youngest child was probably only two years old, and would have been following two older siblings aged around six and 11.

[link:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cave-footprints-stone-age-family-day-out-crawling-a8936656.html|

How cool is that?

[Hoyt]

1. Very cool. I wonder when claustrophobia became common?

[dameatball]

2. Interesting. Maybe they were not much different than the rest of us. Family day at the park.

Or maybe like touring the model home in a really old real estate development....

[Nitram]

3. You wouldn't want this family visiting your home while you were out.

"The family walked close to the side of the cave and have left charcoal-smudged handprints on the wall. The children picked up mud from the floor and splattered it on the wall with their fingers, according to the study published in eLife. "

[yellowdogintexas]

4. The indigenous people of Kentucky mined epsom and gypsum salts from Mammoth Cave

There are traces of their exploration fairly deep into the system; they carried reed torches which they swiped along the wall to knock off the ashes; this would have helped them find their way out. A mummy was found quite deep in the cave, and was on display for years in the park visitor's center. Back in the 1970s "Lost John" was moved to a location deep in the cave. I suspect only a very few people know exactly where he is now.

Other evidence of the use of the cave(s) by the natives are kaprolite (AKA 10,000 year old poop), footprints and so forth. This evidence is found in several sections of the cave system.

The same minerals the indigenous people mined were used to make gunpowder during the War of 1812. Remnants of the mining are on display in the cave.