300,000-year-old footprints are some of the oldest in Europe.

More than a quarter of a million years ago, ancient humans wandered a shallow lake alongside prehistoric elephants and rhinos in what is now Lower Saxony, a region in northwest Germany.

Proof of their existence is from three fossilized footprints they left behind that are among the oldest ever discovered in Europe and the oldest recorded in Germany, a recent study found.

The fossilized prints were covered for millennia, until a mining company began clearing the area to access coal deposits.

Archeologists at the University of Tübingen worked with a team of experts in geology, paleontology, and paleobotany to give context to the footprints.

Three fossilized footprints belong to an extinct species of ancient humans dating back 300,00 years. The prints are among the oldest in Europe and are the oldest ever found in Germany. Experts think some of the prints were left by children, which is an exceptionally rare find.

Source: www.businessinsider.com

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