Generations of archaeologists puzzled over ice-age footprints in French caves – but these three men can read them like a book
IN THE darkened recesses of a remote cave in the Pyrenees, three Namibians crouch over something in the ground. They have travelled to France from the Kalahari desert, more than 7000 kilometres away. The cave is cold and wet, and they are wearing waterproofs, hard hats and headlamps. Each holds a laser pointer. As they huddle together, talking in Ju/'hoan – their native dialect – red points of light bounce around the cave floor, finally settling on a semicircular depression. It is a print made by a human heel.
The footprint dates from the Magdalenian period of the European Upper Palaeolithic – about 17,000 years ago. The Namibians are San bushmen who were brought here by archaeologist Tilman ...
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