Ciampate del Diavolo

It is named after fossilised footprints preserved in pyroclastic flow deposits that have been dated to around 350,000 years ago.

The footprints comprise three sets of tracks indicating that three hominids made their way down a steep slope on the flank of the volcano, away from the crater.

The tracks were preserved under a layer of volcanic ash and were revealed by erosion, probably in the late 18th to early 19th century.

The area in which the tracks appear is an eroded layer of rock covering about 2,000 m2, tilted at an angle of about 45°, in a forest on the side of the volcano.

The footprints are thought to have been exposed by erosion caused by heavy precipitation and landslides in the early 19th century, when the name Ciampate del Diavolo was first recorded.

Based on the age of the tracks, they have been tentatively ascribed to the hominid Homo heidelbergensis, a probable ancestor of the Neanderthals.