Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Conversation
The Conversation
Science
Eduardo Mayoral Alfaro, Catedrático de Paleontología, Universidad de Huelva

Recently found 'Neanderthal footprints' in the South of Spain could be 275,000 years old

General view of the site with hominid footprints on the beach of Matalascañas, Huelva (Spain). E. Mayoral, Author provided

A little over a year ago we reported on a large area at the foot of the Asperillo cliff, on the coast of the Doñana Natural Area in Huelva, Spain. There, along with numerous animal footprints, other footprints had been found – those of hominids.

Until then, the only time reference that allowed the age of the site to be established was the dating of one of the dunes that covered the surface to around 106,000 years ago (Upper Pleistocene). As with most of the hominid footprints found worldwide, we dated them in line with the environment in which they were found. For this reason, our first hypothesis when trying to attribute the new found footprints was that they belonged to Neanderthals, who lived in the Upper Pleistocene.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.