In the locality of Foresta, a hamlet of the Municipality of Tora e Piccilli, there is one of the most important paleontological sites in the world, where some of the oldest known human footprints can be seen.

These footprints, impressed on pyroclastic material, have always fueled popular fantasies and superstitions. They were, in fact, considered a sign of evil, the footprints of the devil, the only being capable of “walking” on lava. Thus, in popular tradition, these footprints are called “Ciampate del diavolo,” the footprints of the devil.

In reality, recent research by scholars (2002) confirms that they are footprints of the Homo species, probably Homo heidelbergensis (who lived between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago), the ancestor of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. A total of 56 footprints have been found, arranged in three tracks. The first, about twenty meters long, has a zigzag pattern and consists of 27 footprints; the second has a straight-line pattern and counts 19 footprints; the third track, slightly further from the first two, also has a zigzag pattern and consists of 10 footprints.

In some of these, it is possible to see the impression of the big toe and other toes. The length of the footprints is about 20-22 cm, which corresponds to a European shoe size of 34. From this, it can be deduced that they were left by individuals approximately 150 cm tall. The three tracks show a completely bipedal gait, with the use of arms only for support and balance in steep areas.

One of the hominids, who proceeds in a straight line, loses balance several times and, to regain it, places his hands on the ground three times, leaving three handprints. It is noteworthy that this is the only known case in the world of fossilized handprints. It has also been determined that the footprints were not left on molten lava but on water-soaked volcanic deposits that had not yet completely solidified, preserving them perfectly.