Footprints from the Stone Age: How a prehistoric volcanic eruption helped preserve remarkable evidence of daily life 13,000 years ago
(c) The Independent '20The long-lost secrets of a Stone Age African tribe are being revealed — courtesy of a prehistoric volcanic eruption.
Hundreds of ancient footprints, preserved in volcanic mud, are yielding extraordinary insights into daily life 13,000 years ago.
The ongoing study of the site in Tanzania is one of the most important investigations into prehistoric human behaviour and social dynamics ever carried out.
A detailed analysis of the prints, carried out by US scientists, has revealed that the sex-based division of labour, which has affected and afflicted human society for most of history, probably had its roots back in the Stone Age.
The footprints were made by between 22 and 32 people as they walked (and sometimes ran) across freshly deposited volcanic mud near the banks of a large saltwater lake in what is now northern Tanzania.