Some of Europe’s oldest human footprints have been discovered by researchers in Romania’s Ciur-Izbuc Cave.
The 400 footprints were originally unearthed in the Carpathian Mountains in 1965. At the time, they were thought to belong to a man, woman and child and dated to 10,000 to 15,000 years old.
But now radiocarbon measurements of two cave bear fossils unearthed just below the footprints suggests that these early humans left their impressions 36,500 years ago.
Today, cave explorers have damaged all but 51 of the original 400 footprints. The remaining hollows, however, suggest that six or seven individuals, including at least one child, entered the cave after a flood.
The Romanian footprints are one of the oldest to be described in a peer-reviewed journal, but a number of researchers believe they have found footprints that are much older.
For instance, in 2011 scientists said human tracks at Tanzania’s Engare Sero site were 120,000 years old.
Those findings have not been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal, and David Webb of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania believes this suggests a problem with footprint authenticity.
