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Ancient human footprints dating back 300,000 years have been discovered in Germany alongside prehistoric elephant tracks. Believed to be the oldest in the country, the footprints belonged to Homo heidelbergensis, an extinct subspecies of archaic humans. They were found in the Schoeningen Palaeolithic site complex in Lower Saxony, a coal-mining area known for archaeological discoveries. The University of Tuebingen led an international research team that made the findings. The footprints offer insights into the paleoenvironment and the species that inhabited the area. The study suggests that the prints were left by a small family of Homo heidelbergensis who likely dwelled near a lake or river. The research, including the analysis of elephant tracks, has been published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. [Note: undated footage]