Archaeologists were able to discover prehistoric traces that reveal the proliferation of man across Spain around 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
This was discovered by technician and researcher Jorge Rivera from the GRS Radioisotopes department in University of Seville. According to SciTechDaily, Rivera's team made use of luminescence techniques that were stimulated optically in order to study the traces that are 200,000 years older than previously seen to be. They specifically date back to the Middle Pleistocene era, roughly 295,800 years ago.
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200,000 Years Older Than Thought
The research was included in the Scientific Reports journal. The findings suggest how pre-Neanderthals dwelled in the Doñana region during this period.
Before that, last 2020, hominin footprints that were dated to around 106,000 years old was a scientific revolution. It was an extremely important discovery to the point of being considered a scientific milestone during that year. However, the recent research confirmed various speculations of different experts. These suspicions were that the discovered traces were much older. In fact, they have been seen to be 200,000 years older than previously assessed.
Though the discovery was previously dated to the Upper Pleistocene period, recent evidence points it toward the Middle Pleistocene period. The findings also connote that it is 295,800 years of age, which makes it an intriguing European record-especially since there is no better world site than El Asperillo beach when it comes to age, area, and number of hominin fossil footprints.
After samples were taken from differing levels and after two later samples were generated to compare with initial results, the fossil remnant age was found to be established. It was then seen to point to the period of Middle Pleistocene, which is a vital period between various climatic phases. A major glaciation took place as it transitioned from warm MIS 9 to MIS 8.
The age was specifically established to be 295,800 years old, with an error margin of 17,800. Given how the Matalascañas are the only hominin footprints that are seen to date between MIS 9 and MIS 8 stages, experts wonder if these belong to Neanderthals.
Findings Suggest Pre-Neanderthal Origins
According to the Natural History Museum, neanderthals were humans like present-day people. However, they were a distinct species of their own that was referred to as Homo neanderthalensis.
While such humans were thought to initially be neanderthals, this assumption is now being questioned. SciTechDaily notes the feasibility of such species being pre-neanderthal hominins.
For this very reason, the Matalascañas traces are now even more important because of their fossil record contribution. Up to now, according to the study, footprints taken from this period were only spotted in the Terra Amata and Roccamonfina, which dates from 380,000 and 345,000 years before.
The specialists highlight the singularity and uniqueness of the Matalascañas findings, with its new dates posing questions to current paradigms.
Implications of New Dating
Such a chronology now grounds scenario changes that took place in the Gulf of Cádiz coast, with settlements of humans having a more humid and temperate climate compared to other European regions that had rich vegetation and elevated water tables.
At that same period, sea levels would have been 60 meters lower than it currently is. Such findings imply that the coast would be over 20 km farther than its current state. This explains how there could have been a huge plain by the coast, with many areas that are largely prone to floods and where the discovered footprints could have been constructed.
Such new dates also impact the discovery of other vertebrate species. This is because hominin traces also covered large mammal footprints.
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