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Footprints from long ago discovered near the coast of Portugal’s Algarve are teaching us new things about the lives of Neanderthals who lived close to the ocean. An international research team showed how Neanderthal families might have hunted collectively on the beach.
Neanderthals are thought to have used beaches for different reasons, but there isn’t much clear proof of this. Some of the gaps in our knowledge are being filled by this new study.
This study is the first clear proof of Neanderthal activity on the Atlantic coast of Portugal. It shows that they used dune areas for moving and maybe even hunting, and it shows how their food and behavior were very different depending on the environment.
The fossilized footprints were found in two different places. A single footprint from Praia do Telheiro is thought to be the oldest. It is about 82,000 years old. The more recent set is made up of ten tracks from three people in nearby Monte Clérigo. They were created about 78,000 years ago.
Scientists are confident that the footprints are from Neanderthals, even though they are hard to tell apart from modern tracks. They used a method called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to figure out the exact ages of layers that held tracks.
Footprints from long ago are very helpful for learning about the past. They tell us a lot about body size, shape, location, walking style, and how people act in groups. The researchers used the size and form of the beach prints to figure out that the three were a man between the heights of 1.69 and 1.73 meters (5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches), a child between the ages of 7 and 9, and a toddler younger than 2 years old.
There are red deer tracks on the same beach, which shows that the family was hunting it. Dunes are great places to sneak up on and attack prey. With its peaks, valleys, and hills, the uneven scenery makes for great cover. This lets hunters get close to their prey without being seen.
Researchers think that hunting on the coast may have been a family activity, but they can’t say for sure if the youngest child took part or was just there to watch. The researchers also think that this place was probably close to a Neanderthal village.
This research, together with other findings of Neanderthal caves and open-air sites along the coast, supports the idea that Neanderthals either lived near the coast all the time or only did so during certain times of the year.
Sources:
Carlos Neto de Carvalho et al. (2025). Neanderthal coasteering and the first Portuguese hominin tracksites, Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-06089-4
Ancient footprints reveal Neanderthal family hunts on beaches. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ancient-footprints-reveal-neanderthal-family.html
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