A group of Neanderthal youths – an extinct human species – once walked on the soft, hot ash of a recently erupted volcano in Italy for a mysterious purpose, much like the legends surrounding the “Devil’s Trail” of this country.
According to Italian folklore and legends, demons were said to walk along the slopes of a volcano in southern Italy, leaving deep imprints in solid rock that have lasted for thousands of years. This legend partly stems from footprints found on the rocks descending the slopes of Roccamofina, a volcano that has been dormant for tens of thousands of years in Italy.
A scientist working at the “Devil’s Trail” – (Photo: MAURO FERMARIELLO / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)
The team of scientists led by Dr. Adolfo Panarello from the University of Cassino (Italy) studied 67 footprints, including the aforementioned traces and 14 newly discovered ones, which surprisingly led uphill rather than downhill as previously found.
According to Science Alert, these footprints tell the story of a mysterious group of youths who ventured into the volcano shortly after it erupted, moving at a leisurely pace as if they were strolling.
The footprints were dated and found to have been imprinted in the rock for up to 430,000 years. Based on the shape of the footprints, they determined that they belonged to robust Neanderthal youths, a species that went extinct and shares the genus Homo with modern Homo sapiens.
The reason these footprints are so deeply imprinted in the rock is because the rocks were actually molten lava mixed with soft ash from the recently erupted volcano, still hot and not solidified when these youths passed by!
This detail is truly shocking because for the footprints to remain so clear, they must have entered the volcano just a few hours after the eruption. According to calculations, they waited for about a few hours post-eruption for the lava to cool from 300 degrees Celsius to around 50 degrees Celsius, which, while still very hot, was manageable for the sturdy, calloused feet of this famously strong “warrior” species.
The findings were recently published in the Journal of Quaternary Science.
