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Mysterious Footprints Suggest Neanderthals Climbed a Volcano Right After It Erupted
MIKE MCRAE3 JANUARY 2022
According to legend, the devil once took a walk down the side of a volcano in southern Italy, each step preserved forever in solid rock.
The tracks are known as the "Ciampate del Diavolo"' or "Devil's Trail" – but details published in 2020 reveal a less diabolical yet far more interesting story on how they came to be.
The mysterious footprints are well known to those living near Roccamonfina, an extinct volcano in southern Italy that hasn't erupted in tens of thousands of years.
Since 2001, researchers have sought to explain the dozens of impressions left by a small group of human ancestors and even a few animals snaking their way down the mountainside.
But a paper published in January 2020 suggested some individuals were actually heading back up.
More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-footprints-suggest-neanderthals-climbed-a-volcano-right-after-it-erupted