DID ELEPHANTS MEET HUMANS ALONG THE DEVIL’S PATH? A PRELIMINARY REPORT

Abstract

This research aims to give notice of and provide preliminary information on some elephant footprints recently identified at Foresta ichnological site (Tora-Piccilli, Caserta, central Italy). The elephant-footprint area was previously poorly investigated because partially affected by anthropic modifications during historical times. The footprints, ascribed to the Proboscipeda panfamilia ichospecies, were left by a young strait-tusked elephant, passing the top of the slope formed during the deposition of the Roccamonfina Brown Leucitic Tuff (BLT), close to the renowned prehistorical Devil’s path. The Foresta elephant footprints are the unique conceivably belonging to Palaeoloxodon recorded in Italy and the first elephant tracks reported from the continental Italian territory.