Champat del Diavolo: Mysterious 350,000-Year-Old Hominid Traces (9 photos)
Not far from the Italian town of Foresta in the province of Caserta and very close to the extinct volcano Roccamonfina, there is a place called Ciampate del Diavolo (literally "Footprints of the Devil"). It is so called because of the footprints, divided into three parts, which are clearly visible on the solidified lava of the volcano, petrified thousands of years ago. 
The name given by the locals is associated with the belief that only a demon could walk on hot lava and leave such footprints. 
Roccamonfina Volcano
In March 2003, Paolo Mietto, a professor of stratigraphy at the University of Padua, and other archaeologists were alerted by tourists and, after conducting an analysis, concluded that there was a less fantastic explanation. 
In reality, these are traces left by hominids who lived in the area about 350,000 years ago, the species Homo heidelbergensis, the ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and sapiens. 
According to Mietto, they belong to a group of three people who were descending the mountainside, a very steep slope, on still-hot lava from the volcano, away from the crater. 
They were moving carefully along a very steep and probably unstable slope, as evidenced by the Z-shaped path of the first group's tracks. The second fragment shows a winding path, indicating that they were less careful here and often slipped and tripped. The third is more linear, and also shows a pair of animal paw prints, possibly from a large dog or wolf. 
Where the travelers slipped, they had to use their upper limbs to help themselves, and they also left several handprints. There are 56 footprints in total, measuring 10 by 20 centimeters (equivalent to a modern size 36), suggesting that these people were about 1.55 meters tall. 
The tracks were preserved because they were covered by a layer of volcanic ash, and then, over the centuries, became visible due to erosion. By the late 18th or early 19th century, they were clearly visible. This means that the hominids who left them did so while the volcano was still active, probably trying to escape the eruption. 
These tracks are among the oldest hominid tracks left outside Africa. But according to Matthew R. Bennett and Sarita A. Morse, the importance of the site lies not in its age, but in the unique nature of the preservation and the tracks themselves. 
While most footprints are horizontal, the tracks here descend a steep slope and are particularly emotional, conveying a sense of movement and haste of ancient people, even if they provide little information about the anatomy of the foot or their normal gait. The site is a source of great pride for local residents and holds a special place in the list of ancient human footprint sites.
