Perfectly-preserved 300,000-year-old human footprints have been discovered in Germany – the earliest ever found in the country. Scientists believe the prints were left by a family of “Heidelberg people,” a long-extinct species of humans.

They were discovered in the Schöningen Paleolithic site in the Harz Mountains of Lower Saxony along with ancient animal footprints – including the first evidence of elephants and rhinos in the region. The Heidelberg people – formally known as Homo heidelbergensis – were the first humans known to build homes and routinely hunt large animals.

The footprint discovery was made by an international research team led by researchers from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, whose findings have been published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Flavio Altamura, tells FACTZ: “For the first time, we conducted a detailed investigation of the fossil footprints from two sites in Schöningen. Among the prints are three tracks that match hominin footprints – with an age of about 300,000 years, they are the oldest human tracks known from Germany and were most likely left by Homo heidelbergensis. Based on the tracks, including those of children and young people, this was probably a family outing rather than a group of adult hunters.”

Dr. Altamura said the findings confirm the extinct human species “dwelled on lake or river shores with shallow water,” where plants, fruits, leaves, shoots, and mushrooms would have been available depending on the season.