290,000 years before the Universe was magicked into existence out of nothing, according to creationists, hominins with a fully modern human foot were walking about in mud in what is now Germany.
The footprints of these 'pre-creation' hominins were discovered in the roughly 300,000-year-old Schöningen Paleolithic site complex in Lower Saxony, Germany and have been studied by an international team led by scientists from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment. Their findings are published in the journal, Quaternary Science Reviews, sadly behind a paywall.
The hominin tracks are presumed to be those of Homo heidelbergensis, a species believed to be the ancestor of Neanderthals, itself a descendant of H. erectus which migrated out of Africa and diversified across Eurasia.
The find and its significance is the subject of a press release from the Senckenberg Centre:
300,000-year-old snapshot: Oldest human footprints found in GermanyThe team's findings were presented in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. The abstract, Introduction and snippets of other sections are available here:
Three fossil footprints of Homo heidelbergensis discovered between prehistoric elephant tracks at the Schöningen site in Lower Saxony
In a study published today [15 June 2023] in the journal "Quaternary Science Reviews", an international research team led by researchers from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment presents the earliest known human footprints from Germany. The traces were discovered in the approximately 300,000-year-old Paleolithic site complex of Schöningen in Lower Saxony. The imprints, which presumably originate from Homo heidelbergensis, are surrounded by several animal tracks – together they paint a picture of the ecosystem at that time. The project is financed by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture and the University of Tübingen.
In an open birch and pine forest overgrown with grass there is a lake a few kilometers long and a few hundred meters wide. Herds of elephant, rhino and even-toed ungulates come to its muddy shores to drink and bathe. In the middle of this scenery stands a nuclear family of the "Heidelberg people", a species of people that is now extinct.
The scientists assign two of the three human traces in Schöningen to young individuals who used the lake and its resources in a small mixed-age group. The various tracks in Schöningen show a snapshot of a family's everyday life and can provide information about the behavior and social composition of the hominin group as well as about the spatial interaction and coexistence with herds of elephants and other, smaller mammals, the study says.It could have looked like this or something similar 300,000 years ago in Schöningen, Lower Saxony. For the first time we have examined the fossil footprints of two sites in Schöningen in detail. These traces give us together with the information from sedimentological, archaeological, paleontological and paleobotanical analyses, knowledge about the paleoenvironment and the mammals that once lived in this area. Among the footprints are also three tracks that match hominin footprints - dating back about 300,000 years, they are the oldest human tracks known in Germany and probably come from Homo heidelbergensis.
Depending on the season, plants, fruits, leaves, shoots and mushrooms were available around the lake. Our finds confirm that the extinct human species lived on the shores of lakes or rivers with shallow water. This is also known from other sites with Lower and Middle Pleistocene hominin footprints.
Dr. Flavio Altamura, first author
Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment
University of Tübingen (SHEP), Tübingen, Germany
Fossil footprints and the Schöningen site.
Hominin footprint, presumed to be of Homo heidelbergensis.In addition to the human tracks, the team analyzed a series of elephant tracks belonging to the extinct species Palaeoloxodon antiquus: a straight-tusked elephant that was the largest land animal at the time, with adult males weighing up to 13 tons.Elephant footprint, Palaeoloxodon antiquus
Rhino footprint, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis or Stephanorhinus hemitoechus
The elephant tracks we discovered in Schöningen reach a remarkable length of 55 centimetres. In some cases, we also found wood fragments in the ruts that the animals had pressed into the ground, which was soft at the time. One trace also comes from a rhinoceros - Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis or Stephanorhinus hemitoechus – and is the first Pleistocene footprint of this species found in Europe.
Dr. Jordi Serangeli, co-author
Head of the excavation in Schöningen
Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment
University of Tübingen (SHEP), Tübingen, Germany
AbstractIt will probably be impossible for creationists to explain how archaic humans were making tracks in mud in what is now Germany, 290,000 years before the universe was created (according to creationist dogma) without resorting to their traditional response to these sorts of archaeological findings that refute the Bible narrative, namely:
The ca. 300 ka Paleolithic sites of Schöningen in northern Germany yielded a number of localities with archeological and paleontological remains representing a rich paleoenvironmental record of the late Middle Pleistocene in northern Europe. An important line of research focused on the ichnology of two localities: Schöningen 13 I-Fs2 and Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme. Here we present the first detailed study of these fossil footprints, which provides insights on Schöningen's paleoenvironment and a snapshot of the mammals once living in the area. Herds of elephants and other species of herbivores congregated along the muddy shores of a paleolake during birch, pine and grass-rich woodland phases. In addition, three potential hominin footprints, probably belonging to a late Homo heidelbergensis, are recorded at Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme. This confirms the complementary potential of ichnology in reconstructing a reliable picture of prehistoric sites.
Altamura, Flavio; Lehmann, Jens; Rodríguez-Álvarez, Bárbara; Urban, Brigitte; van Kolfschoten, Thijs; Verheijen, Ivo; Conard, Nicholas J.; Serangeli, Jordi
Fossil footprints at the late Lower Paleolithic site of Schöningen (Germany): A new line of research to reconstruct animal and hominin paleoecology
Quaternary Science Reviews (2023) 310, 108094. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108094
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
- The scientists got the dates wrong because radiometric dating is flawed.
- The scientists are liars, working for Satan to destroy our faith.
- The tracks are forgeries.
There is no truth agenda in creationism; it’s about adhering to cult-think as dictated by cult leaders and peer-pressure within their social sub-group, where social status is determined by the ability to ignore science, remain as ignorant as possible, and intellectual bankruptcy.
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