Researchers studying 21 tracks left by ancient hominins in the Kenyan area of Koobi Fora have determined that these footprints were made by Paranthropus boisei. These hominins inhabited the region at the same time as bipedal humans.
Researchers studying 21 tracks left by ancient hominins in the Kenyan area of Koobi Fora have determined that these footprints were made by Paranthropus boisei. These hominins inhabited the region at the same time as bipedal humans.
According to scientists' calculations, the size and weight of these massive Australopithecines from Koobi Fora significantly exceeded the indicators determined based on the bones of representatives of this species. The research results were presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Recently, there has been a growing number of studies dedicated to the footprints of ancient hominins, which are sometimes preserved for millions of years. The most famous similar finds are associated with Tanzania, where numerous foot and paw prints belonging to presumed ancestors of Homo—Afar Australopithecus (Australopithecus afarensis) and other hominins who walked through volcanic ash about 3.66 million years ago—were discovered in Laetoli back in the 1970s.
Analysis of the Laetoli tracks showed that Afar Australopithecines, including Lucy, were already confidently walking upright. A more recent discovery concerned findings specifically from the Kenyan formation of Koobi Fora. In 2024, an article was published reporting the presence of tracks of both bipedal humans (H. erectus) and Paranthropus boisei in one area, which presumably coexisted in East Africa about 1.5 million years ago, traversing the same territory within an interval of only a few hours or days.
Kevin Hatale from Chatham University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, together with colleagues from Kenya and the USA, shared data on further investigations in the Koobi Fora formation, but in another location—GaJi10. Initial small excavations were conducted in this section in 1978–1979, resulting in the discovery of seven ancient hominin tracks and 82 paw prints of other animals, including birds and large horned animals, as well as hippos. Additional excavations carried out in 2016 and 2023 allowed for the discovery of another 14 hominin tracks and numerous prints of other creatures.
According to the authors, two of the seven hominin tracks recorded in the 1970s were damaged, but they were carefully documented with photographs and casts. Ultimately, scientists analyzed all 21 tracks and concluded that they likely belonged to eight different individuals. The characteristics of the prints indicate that they are probably the tracks of Paranthropus boisei, who lived in this area approximately 1.43 million years ago.
A deeper analysis of the tracks led to unexpected conclusions. If these tracks truly belonged to Paranthropus, calculations showed that several large individuals, presumably males, moved slowly along the bank of an ancient lake at a speed of about one to two kilometers per hour. This suggests a social structure for these hominins, implying peaceful coexistence of males in one group.
The most striking finding was the comparison of the estimated height and body mass of these individuals with data obtained from bones. The authors refer to 2017 statistics, according to which the average height of known Paranthropus boisei at that time was 131.1 centimeters (ranging from 116 to 161.3 centimeters). However, estimates made from the Koobi Fora tracks ranged from 130.6 to 180.9 centimeters, with four individuals exceeding 161.3 centimeters. The average body mass of Paranthropus in the 2017 study was estimated at 36.6–52.5 kilograms (depending on the methodology). For the individuals from Koobi Fora, however, scientists calculated a weight between 39.8 and 74.6 kilograms, with six out of seven individuals exceeding 52.5 kilograms.
Despite the scientists' inclination to believe that Paranthropus boisei left the tracks 1.43 million years ago in Kenya, other versions were considered. The first hypothesis suggests that the tracks could belong to bipedal humans, which would imply variability in foot structure among members of the genus Homo, about which researchers currently have no data. The second alternative version is that another unknown paleoanthropological and archaeological species of ancient hominins existed in East Africa during that period, although this idea is considered least likely due to the well-studied nature of the region.
Other species of Paranthropus were also found in Southern Africa. Recently, a small representative of this genus was reported, whose bones were found in Swartkrans. This individual, P. robustus, lived between 2.3 and 1.7 million years ago, and its height apparently barely exceeded a meter, while its body mass was about 27 kilograms.
Researchers analyzed the strontium isotopic composition in the teeth of 152 freed Africans buried on Saint Helena island in the 19th century after being rescued from slave ships. This analysis helped confirm historical assumptions that most of these people may have originated from western regions of Central Africa, although individuals from other parts of the continent, including inland areas, were also present in the group.
From the 16th to the 19th century, spanning approximately four centuries, the transatlantic slave trade was active. According to historical estimates, about 17 million people were forcibly removed from Africa during this period, of whom approximately 12.5 million were planned to be transported to America. Europeans primarily took enslaved people from the ports of West Africa, where human resources were exchanged for various goods. A significant portion of Africans died before reaching the New World due to poor sanitary conditions, overcrowding, and other reasons; historians note that about 1.8 million out of 12.5 million did not survive the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
Saint Helena Island, located in the middle of the ocean, played an important role in the history of the slave trade, serving as a place where Africans were held as slaves for a long time. However, starting in 1840, the British, having already banned the slave trade, began using the island as a naval base to combat slave ships. Over 27 years, they landed about 27,000 freed Africans on the island. Most of them were sent to work in colonies as hired laborers, while only a small fraction were allowed to remain. Furthermore, about 8 out of the 27,000 freed people died shortly after arriving on the island.
In 2007–2008, during excavations preceding the construction of the airport on Saint Helena island, archaeologists discovered two large necropolises containing the remains of freed Africans. A total of 325 articulated skeletons and numerous scattered remains were found. Scientists from the UK, Denmark, China, the Netherlands, and the USA, led by Hannes Schröder from the University of Copenhagen, conducted a study to determine the strontium isotopic composition in the dental enamel of 152 individuals and establish their regions of origin.
The analyses showed that none of the individuals in the studied sample were born on Saint Helena island itself, confirming that the graves contained freed Africans who died shortly after arrival. Overall data confirmed historical accounts that most of these people originated from western regions of Central Africa, which was also supported by written sources and recent limited genetic analysis. Scientists were also able to determine that the people captured into slavery came not only from coastal areas but also from inland regions. For example, the sample included individuals likely born in a small region of Angola far from the sea. A small proportion of people might have originated from the interior of East or Southern Africa, but their share was insignificant.
The researchers concluded that most of the analyzed individuals were likely born within a few hundred kilometers of the coastline, although some may have traveled more than a thousand kilometers to the port. These findings align with eyewitness accounts that some captives traveled long distances to the ports from which slaves were shipped. Most of them apparently did not stay long in the coastal area. An exception was one man who lived for 19–25 years; the analysis of his teeth showed that he was likely born in the interior of Angola and then moved to the coastal area at the age of 7–9, where he lived long enough for it to be reflected in the ratio of light and heavy strontium isotopes.
Similar studies are also being conducted in the USA. Several years ago, geneticists studied the DNA of over thirty people whose graves were found in Charleston (South Carolina) and found that most of them likely originated from Western or western regions of Central Africa.
It is worth noting the study of the ancient Egyptian mummy 'The Braided Woman,' which scientists analyzed using computed tomography. This mummy is housed in an American museum, and researchers confirmed that it belonged to an adult woman who presumably lived during the XVIII–XXI dynasties and belonged to the non-royal elite. Scientists determined details of her body preparation for burial but did not find the cause of her early death. The results of this work were published in the journal Radiology Case Reports.
