00:00Look at this.
00:02Researchers have just found footprints that are not very old,
00:06of a family of humans that disappeared a long time ago.
00:08Hang on tight.
00:10300,000 years.
00:11These footprints belong to a group of Homo Heidelbergensis.
00:15It's rather difficult to pronounce, but I got it.
00:17These men were therefore very advanced for their time.
00:20They built houses and hunted big animals.
00:23Unfortunately, they could not stand climate change
00:26and disappeared about 28,000 years ago.
00:29No, this was not the fight of the Homo Heidelbergensis.
00:31Believe me, the weather was really rough at the time
00:34and they could not settle for a doudoune like we do today.
00:38A team from the University of Tübingen made this discovery in Germany,
00:42where it found footprints perfectly preserved in a forest on the edge of a lake.
00:46Apparently, elephants, rhinos and other animals
00:50came to rest on the water, just like this Heidelberg family.
00:54Scientists think it was probably a family outing
00:58and not a group of adult hunters,
01:00because there were also footprints of small children.
01:03Depending on the season, they could eat plants, fruits,
01:06leaves, shoots and mushrooms all around the lake.
01:09Experts even found traces of a species of missing elephant
01:12weighing up to 13 tons.
01:14Can you imagine seeing one of these elephants in person?
01:17As a reminder, 13 tons is about 45 times the weight of a pig.
01:21Grunt, grunt.
01:23While digging in Schöningen,
01:25the researchers came across elephant footprints 55 cm long.
01:29Yes, more than half a meter.
01:31And they even found fragments of wood in the urns left by the elephants.
01:35But wait, that's not all.
01:37They also discovered a rhinoceros footprint dating from Pleistocene,
01:41which is quite incredible.
01:43This is the first time they have found a footprint of this species in Europe.
01:46No one could have imagined that rhinoceros had such big legs,
01:50except for this huge beast to walk on.
01:52Meanwhile, in New Mexico,
01:54British and American archaeologists
01:56found ancient footprints of non-human beings
01:58dating from 23,000 years ago.
02:00They used radiocarbon dating
02:02to determine when these footprints were made.
02:05And it turns out that they date back to the last maximum glaciers.
02:08At that time, glaciers covered a large part of North America,
02:13and the sea level was lower than today.
02:17We have always thought that humans arrived in North America
02:2013,000 to 16,000 years ago.
02:22But these footprints suggest that our ancestors
02:24wandered in this area much earlier than that.
02:27Some even think that humans were already present in North America
02:3133,000 years ago, but not everyone is convinced.
02:38Well, and if there are footprints,
02:40there must have been shoes too, right?
02:43Researchers may not have found Gucci moccasins,
02:46even if they have existed since 1953.
02:49But they discovered a cave in Armenia
02:51filled with ancient objects dating from the age of copper.
02:53And guess what?
02:54Among these objects was a very well-preserved shoe,
02:58which is today the oldest shoe ever discovered.
03:01This shoe was made of a single piece of cow leather,
03:04which is rather rare today,
03:06despite all the sophisticated technological improvements we have.
03:11This is what we call high quality.
03:13Today, the most connected shoe makers
03:16try to copy this cutting technique.
03:19This shoe was also coated with a kind of vegetable oil
03:23for greater durability.
03:25It even had laces that crossed through a series of holes,
03:29just like our favorite sports shoes.
03:31This model for women,
03:33of a size equivalent to a small 39,
03:36suggests that it was custom-made for a wealthy person.
03:40Could you imagine wearing such shoes at the time?
03:43We had to talk about it all over the village.
03:45And since we are talking about shoes,
03:47you know this unpleasant feeling
03:49that you feel when you walk on something sticky.
03:52Especially if you wear a pair of brand new white sneakers.
03:55No, don't be afraid,
03:57I'm just talking about chewing gum.
03:59A big jumble stuck to his shoe,
04:01it's a real disaster.
04:03During a search in Finland,
04:05Sarah Pekin, a British student in ultra-cool archaeology,
04:08found a piece of neolithic chewing gum,
04:105,000 years old,
04:12made from work scabbard.
04:14It even had teeth marks.
04:16Who would have thought that our ancestors
04:18also liked chewing gums?
04:20Apparently, the work scabbard
04:22has antiseptic properties.
04:24It is therefore thought that the people of the Neolithic
04:26chewed it to treat mouth and gums infections.
04:30It would therefore seem that humanity
04:32has been consuming chewing gums since the dawn of time.
04:35What a tradition!
04:37The creators of the distant past
04:39did not only have shoes to offer
04:41to prehistoric fashionistas.
04:43You will never find a piece like this
04:45in the large distribution.
04:47And I'm not sure you have more luck
04:49in high-end shops.
04:51Yes, this is the oldest handbag
04:53ever discovered.
04:55And yes, these little decorations,
04:57they are dog teeth.
04:59According to an archaeologist,
05:01these teeth were in full swing in 2500 BC.
05:03People put it everywhere,
05:05on clothes and jewelry.
05:07But this handbag had something special.
05:09It had more than a dozen teeth
05:11and was very elegant.
05:13Which means that its owner
05:15was surely a celebrity.
05:17Unfortunately, the handbag itself
05:19did not survive the test of time.
05:21All that remains are its teeth,
05:23oriented in the same direction
05:25and resembling a modern handbag flap.
05:27It must have been very chic at the time,
05:29but we did well to abandon this fashion
05:31for our accessories.
05:33Let's talk about the discovery
05:35of a dinosaur on the Yorkshire coast.
05:37It happens that scientists discover
05:39not human footprints,
05:41but dinosaur footprints.
05:43This time, they found a dinosaur footprint
05:45that could have been deposited
05:47by a predator during a break
05:49166 million years ago.
05:51Can you imagine a T-Rex
05:53lying on the beach,
05:55a smoothie in hand,
05:57this fossil of a meter long
05:59spotted in the Bay of Burnyston
06:01The team of researchers
06:03who studied the footprint
06:05concluded that it had been made
06:07by a giant carnivore,
06:09of the Megalosaurus type,
06:11a big hungry dino.
06:13This footprint is the largest
06:15left by a theropod,
06:17a group of bipedal dinosaurs,
06:19of which the sadly famous
06:21Tyrannosaurus rex is part.
06:23It is therefore a really large
06:25and frightening creature.
06:27A paleontologist at the University
06:29of New York found no evidence
06:31on the behavior of these carnivorous giants.
06:33Apparently, the characteristics
06:35of the footprint suggest that
06:37this great predator was crouching
06:39before getting up.
06:41Maybe he was doing yoga
06:43or going to the bathroom?
06:45Who knows?
06:47Another archaeologist,
06:49Mary Woods, came across this footprint
06:51while she was picking up shells
06:53on the shore.
06:55She said she hadn't believed her eyes.
06:57Mary Woods and Rob Taylor,
06:59a local fossil collector,
07:01saved the fragile footprint
07:03from the shore.
07:05Experts had warned them
07:07that it might be lost
07:09due to erosion or landslides.
07:11The footprint is now expected
07:13to be exhibited
07:15at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.
07:17But we have other news
07:19about these big missing animals.
07:21The drought in Texas
07:23revealed footprints
07:25recently discovered
07:27in the State Park of Dinosaur Valley,
07:29in northwest Texas.
07:31The drought caused the total
07:33erosion of a river
07:35that crosses the center of Texas.
07:37This is how these prehistoric footprints
07:39were finally discovered.
07:41This guy was a big guy,
07:43about 4.5 meters long
07:45and weighed 7 tons.
07:47He traveled the region
07:49more than 113 million years ago,
07:51according to the National Park.
07:53The dinosaurs were found
07:55because of the drought,
07:57and we estimate
07:59the total number of footprints
08:01of this dinosaur at 140.
08:03But that's not all.
08:05Sauroposeidon footprints
08:07were also discovered.
08:09This creature was 20 meters long
08:11and weighed about 48 tons.
08:13Experts think the Sauroposeidon
08:15was hunted by the Acrocanthosaurus,
08:17which explains why
08:19their footprints were found
08:21in the desert.
08:23Can a professor explain
08:25why the smallest eats the biggest?
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