Ciampate del Diavolo

The Ciampate del Diavolo.

Ciampate del Diavolo (Neapolitan: "Devil's Footprints") is the name of a locality near Roccamonfina (northern Campania, Italy), in the neighbourhood of an extinct volcano with the same name. It takes its name from several human fossil footprints.

Local tradition attributed the prints to the Devil, since it was deemed the sole creature capable of walking on lava without harm. The footprints were in fact made in volcanic ash by a bipedal hominid living in the area some 350,000 years ago. The footprints were left by individuals barely five feet (1.50 m) tall, who appear to have been running away from the volcano.^[1]

See also

• Paleoanthropology

References

1. ^ David Perlman, Stone Age human tracks found: Three people were rushing down side of a volcano near Naples, San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2007.