Il valore dell’Icnologia umana

Abstract

Tracking footprints is one of the oldest human activities. From its practical value in stalking prey, it has gradually evolved into a symbolic activity and then also into an artistic, mystical, and magical abstraction. Today, analyzing footprints (especially human ones) has become a science in its own right, and is applied for different purposes in palaeontological, archaeological, and forensic contexts. In this paper, we retrace the essential stages of the growing dignity of tracking, highlighting its enormous and fascinating power to help us better understand who we are, where we come from, and what our future may be.