How long ago did Vîrtop man live?

The oldest Neanderthal footprint in the world

After an ascent and a narrow passage, two speleologists from Cluj entered a virgin chamber of the Gheţarul cave at Vîrtop in the Bihor Mountains. They realised that they were not the first to have trodden the immaculate cave floor: imprinted in the calcite were visible three human footprints. It was obvious that the mysterious visitor had entered the cave thousands of years ago. How many thousands? The enigma was solved in 2004, after years of research. The first studies were carried out by speleologist I. Viehmann and anthropologist C. Rișcuţia. Based on ichnological data (ichnology is the science of the traces left by plants and animals), they concluded that the prints were similar to ones left by a Neanderthal in Italy. The Vîrtop prints, measuring 22/10.6cm and 1.6cm between the big toe and the rest of the foot, reveal definite primitive features. One of the prints has been cut out of the cave floor and is now an important item in the collection of the Institute of Speleology. The decision to do so was correct: the other two prints were later removed by thieves. In the meantime, the Italians reached the conclusion that their print was more recent. The facilities provided by the laboratory in Bergen, Norway, allowed me to date the Vîrtop print using the uranium/ thorium method. I analysed samples taken from the surface and the base of the cave floor, establishing that the deposit was made within an interval of 24,000 to 120,000 years. In order to understand the relationship between the print and the substratum, I carried out a number of X-rays of the cave floor. I concluded that the print had been deeper but was subsequently filled in. What helped me to establish its age with precision was a small stalagmite that had grown from the base stratum. The three dating analyses carried out based on the stalagmite indicated 62,000 years. Therefore, the print within which the stalagmite began to accrete is older and must have been left by a Neanderthal. It is the oldest dated footprint in the world. The full study was published in Quaternary Science Reviews. Yet another enigma has been solved. But why did the prehistoric visitor enter the cave?

Dr Bogdan Onac

E. Racoviţa Institute of Speleology