What Was the “Devil’s” Body Size? Reflections on the Body Mass and Stature of the Foresta Hominin Trackmakers (Roccamonfina Volcano, Italy)

The challenging task of correctly estimating the body size of prehistoric hominins from footprint dimensions has been a matter of long debate, but researchers are still divided about the best methodological approach for obtaining compelling estimates. This research attempts to infer the body size of the trackmakers, who impressed their footprints on the uneven ground slope of a Roccamonfina volcano’s ignimbrite (≈350 ka) at the Foresta/“Devil’s Trails” ichnosite. We used the equations selected among the most adequate for the footprints of this peculiar ichnosite with an exploratory purpose and from a critical estimation point of view. The values of the body size derived from the different equations are highly variable; the minimum and maximum values can differ by up to 50%. The variation range is similarly large when applying the same equations to the footprints from some North African and European Lower Paleolithic ichnosites. The variability of the results mainly depends on the technique of footprint measurements, the environmental context (substrate, surface slope, trackmaker gait, etc.), the equation used, and, to a minor extent, the dimensional slight differences between a fleshy foot and a footprint. This makes comparisons among the sites challenging. All things considered, we could say that the average body mass (about 60 kg) and stature (about 166 cm) of Foresta trackmakers, who may be individuals of different sexes, fall in the range of the Middle Pleistocene "Homo heidelbergensis" s.l.