Neanderthals may have taken planned beach 'vacations' based on 80,000-year-old footprints

The Algarve coast now offers one of the clearest windows into Neanderthal life on the Iberian Peninsula. Two new hominin track sites discovered on Portugal beaches change how we view Neanderthals’ relationship with coastlines.

Led by Carlos Neto de Carvalho of the University of Lisbon and Fernando Muñiz of the University of Seville, with collaborators across Europe and China, the team revealed fossil footprints dated to about 78,000 and 82,000 years ago.

They used advanced dating techniques to analyze the dune sands that preserved the tracks.

These findings place Portugal on the map of key Neanderthal sites, expanding the story of human prehistory along Europe’s Atlantic edge.

Neanderthal footprints on beach

At Monte Clérigo, on a dune slope dipping 28° to 35°, researchers identified multiple trackways.

They mapped at least five short trackways and 26 individual footprints over about 22 square meters (237 square feet) of surface.

The Neanderthal footprints on the beach show signs of walking uphill and downhill, with changes in stride and gait.

One trackway shows ascending movement at walking speed, while another shows descent at a faster pace.

These dynamic changes reflect how Neanderthals negotiated a steep, sandy terrain. As the authors state, footprints let us see “a snapshot of life tens of thousands of years ago.”

Social life written in sand

The team estimated body height from footprint lengths using established formulas. Some trackways likely belong to the same adult male standing about 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) tall.

A smaller isolated footprint suggests a child aged 7 to 9 years, standing around 1.13 meters (3.7 feet). Another very small footprint, only 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) long, likely came from a toddler under two years old.

At the Praia do Telheiro site, a single footprint measuring 22.6 centimeters (8.9 inches) long and 7.6 centimeters (3 inches) wide appears to be from an adolescent or adult, likely a female.

Because it stands alone, the site lacks a full trackway for behavioral interpretation.

Footprints reveal hunting behavior

The shapes and orientation of footprints in Monte Clérigo show evidence of diagonal, curving paths, likely chosen to ease steep climbs.

Some prints reveal slippage, foot rotation, and irregular strides, showing how Neanderthals adapted to shifting beach sand. One track even intersects with a deer’s track, hinting at a close encounter, perhaps during a hunt.

“Footprints record a specific moment, almost instantaneously, allowing us to reconstruct what was happening; for example, a group walk, a chase, a flight, or presence in a particular landscape,” said Neto de Carvalho.

“The footprints show how Neanderthals used space, how they explored coastal environments, forests, dunes, or riverbanks, something that is difficult to infer solely from artifacts.”

The size, number, and arrangement of footprints reveal details about individuals present, from children to adults, and even hint at task sharing, such as hunting parties.

Small footprints highlight the presence of babies and children, whose remains rarely survive in archaeological records.

Coastal diet revealed by footprints

Beyond footprints, the study used ecological network analysis to reconstruct dietary patterns. The method highlighted strong connections between Neanderthals and animals such as deer, horses, and hares.

These mammals formed the core of their diet. Evidence also shows use of coastal or nearshore animals, reflecting a flexible dietary strategy.

Such findings suggest Neanderthals balanced large game with smaller prey and coastal resources, ensuring resilience in shifting environments.

Neanderthal world by beach

The dunes in which footprints were found formed during a period of milder climate within the Pleistocene.

Pollen records suggest a mix of pine, deciduous oak, and heathland species in that era. These ecosystems would have offered food, wood, and cover for the groups who left the tracks.

The Monte Clérigo track-bearing surface lies within cemented dune deposits formed from sands stabilized by natural mineral processes.

At Praia do Telheiro, the track horizon also lies in dune deposits, within a sea-cliff valley. Both landscapes reflect how coastal dunes could serve not only as travel routes but also as hunting grounds and lookout points.

Global view of human tracks

These Portuguese discoveries fit into a broader story of hominin footprints across the globe. Sites such as Le Rozel in France and Matalascañas in Spain show that Neanderthals were no strangers to coastal living.

Footprints found in Africa and the Middle East have similarly revealed behavioral moments otherwise lost in time. Each site contributes a fragment to the puzzle of how ancient humans interacted with their environment.

What makes the Algarve tracksites so important is their rarity and context. Footprints degrade quickly, often erased by weather or new sediment.

For them to survive for more than 70,000 years is remarkable. Their preservation allows modern science to reconstruct not only where Neanderthals stood, but how they moved, hunted, and lived together.

Neanderthal life uncovered

Together, these traces dissolve older ideas of Neanderthals as strictly inland. They inhabited and moved across dune systems, interacted with prey species, and adapted to coastal ecology with behavioral sophistication.

The Algarve footprints confirm that Neanderthals walked, hunted, and lived close to the sea, showing a human story written not only in stone tools or bones, but also in the simple impression of bare feet on ancient sand.

The study reminds us that human history is not just about survival but about adaptability. Neanderthals shaped their movements to terrain, shared spaces with children, and planned hunts in coastal environments.

These discoveries bring us closer to understanding them not as distant, old relatives but as humans who left behind fleeting, enduring marks in the sand.

Image credit: Carlos Neto de Carvalho

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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