The Le Rozel footprints: snapshots of Neandertal groups in the Late Pleistocene. A combined morphometric and experimental approach

Duveau, Jérémy

doi:10.4000/bmsap.7900

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…One of the most original aspects of footprints is that they provide access to very brief periods of life, like snapshots 20 , 58 . They can provide information not only on the composition of groups but also on their behaviour 6 , 8 , 9 , 18 , 59 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the vast majority of cases, ichnological assemblages are not associated with any other type of material. One of the most original aspects of footprints is that they provide access to very brief periods of life, like snapshots 20,58 . They can provide information not only on the composition of groups but also on their behaviour 6,8,9,18,59 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Late Pleistocene hominin footprint site on the North African coast of Morocco

Sedrati,

Morales,

Duveau

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Footprints represent a relevant vestige providing direct information on the biology, locomotion, and behaviour of the individuals who left them. However, the spatiotemporal distribution of hominin footprints is heterogeneous, particularly in North Africa, where no footprint sites were known before the Holocene. This region is important in the evolution of hominins. It notably includes the earliest currently known Homo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud) and the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin sites. In this fragmented ichnological record, we report the discovery of 85 human footprints on a Late Pleistocene now indurated beach surface of about 2800 m2 at Larache (Northwest coast of Morocco). The wide range of sizes of the footprints suggests that several individuals from different age groups made the tracks while moving landward and seaward across a semi-dissipative bar-trough sandy beach foreshore. A geological investigation and an optically stimulated luminescence dating of a rock sample extracted from the tracksite places this hominin footprint surface at 90.3 ± 7.6 ka (MIS 5, Late Pleistocene). The Larache footprints are, therefore, the oldest attributed to Homo sapiens in Northern Africa and the Southern Mediterranean.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Late Pleistocene hominin footprint site on the North African coast of Morocco

Sedrati,

Morales,

Duveau

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…Thus, if an isolated footprint has a total length equivalent to a stature of 170 cm, this print would have been made by an individual whose real height is between 147 and 192 cm. This high uncertainty raises questions about stature estimation for isolated fossil footprints that were left under similar substrate conditions (Duveau, 2021, Mayoral et al, 2021. Moreover, this uncertainty of 13.4% is only related to intraindividual dispersion and it is necessary to add to it the residual uncertainty of the regression between the average length of the footprints and the stature of the individuals.…”

Section: Intraindividual Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main particularity of footprints comes from the temporal scale they represent: very brief moments of life comparable to snapshots (Mastrolorenzo et al, 2006, Falkingham, 2014, Stewart et al, 2020, Duveau, 2021. Indeed, footprints from a single surface are formed over a very short period since they must be quickly covered by sediment in order to be preserved, especially for outdoor sites where they are subject to numerous taphonomic agents such as wind, tide or precipitation (Marty et al, 2009, Bennett and Morse, 2014, Wiseman and De Groote, 2018.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From footprint morphometrics to the stature of fossil hominins: A common but uncertain estimate

Duveau

2022

L'Anthropologie

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“…The recently published discoveries and re-studies of Pleistocene hominin footprints in UK 1 , France 2 , 3 , Italy 4 , Spain 5 , 6 , and Greece 7 have highlighted the crucial importance of the ichnological record in discussing Europe’s palaeoanthropological scenario.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New dating of the Matalascañas footprints provides new evidence of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 9-8) hominin paleoecology in southern Europe

Mayoral

Duveau

Santos

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Hominin footprints were recently discovered at Matalascañas (Huelva; South of Iberian Peninsula). They were dated thanks to a previous study in deposits of the Asperillo cliff to 106 ± 19 ka, Upper Pleistocene, making Neandertals the most likely track-makers. In this paper, we report new Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating that places the hominin footprints surface in the range of 295.8 ± 17 ka (MIS 9-MIS 8 transition, Middle Pleistocene). This new age implies that the possible track-makers are individuals more likely from the Neandertal evolutionary lineage. Regardless of the taxon attributed to the Matalascañas footprints, they supplement the existing partial fossil record for the European Middle Pleistocene Hominins being notably the first palaeoanthropological evidence (hominin skeleton or footprints) from the MIS 9 and MIS 8 transition discovered in the Iberian Peninsula, a moment of climatic evolution from warm to cool. Thus, the Matalascañas footprints represent a crucial record for understanding human occupations in Europe in the Pleistocene.

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The Le Rozel footprints: snapshots of Neandertal groups in the Late Pleistocene. A combined morphometric and experimental approach

Cited by 4 publications

References 31 publications

A Late Pleistocene hominin footprint site on the North African coast of Morocco

A Late Pleistocene hominin footprint site on the North African coast of Morocco

From footprint morphometrics to the stature of fossil hominins: A common but uncertain estimate

New dating of the Matalascañas footprints provides new evidence of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 9-8) hominin paleoecology in southern Europe

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