A new study shows that Neanderthals hunted cave lions for the first time and used the skin of this dangerous predator. In 2019, excavations at Einhornhöhle (Unicorn Cave) in the Harz Mountains (Lower Saxony, Germany) unearthed numerous Ice Age animals, including several bones of an extinct cave lion. The bones were discovered in a cave gallery about 30 meters from the now collapsed entrance, in a layer more than 200,000 years old.

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports , described how a research team discovered a severed finger bone among the remains of a cave lion. This led the team to determine that Neanderthals skinned the lion with its claws attached; This shows that they used the leather for their own purposes.

However, the bones found at Einhornhöhle did not provide direct evidence of hunting. To contextualize the finding, lead author Gabriele Russo of the University of Tübingen in Germany analyzed the remains of a cave lion found by a teenager from Siegsdorf, Bavaria. Closer examination of Rousseau’s skeleton led to the discovery of unusual damage to his rib. As a result of the study carried out together with archaeologist Dr Annemike Milks from the University of Reading, it was determined that the damage was a gun attack.

Rousseau said: “The rib lesion is markedly different from carnivore bite marks and shows the typical fracture pattern of a hunting weapon injury.”

Dr. “The lion was probably killed with a spear stuck in the lion’s belly while it was lying on the ground,” Milks said.

A 50,000-year-old skeleton has helped researchers show for the first time that Neanderthals hunted cave lions. Cut marks also indicate that they not only killed this apex predator but also consumed its flesh.

top predator

The cave lion was about 1.3 meters tall at the shoulders. The cave lion was Eurasia’s most dangerous animal for about 200,000 years until it became extinct at the end of the Ice Age. Cave lions lived in a variety of environments, from steppes to mountains, and as apex predators they preyed on large herbivores such as mammoths, bison, and horses, as well as the cave bear. The regular presence of cave lion bones in Ice Age caves is responsible for this name.

Until now, it was believed that there was no cultural interaction with this top predator before the time of Homo sapiens. Among the oldest works of art by Homo sapiens are those known from Swabian Jurassic caves in southwestern Germany. There, the cave lion is a prominent motif, exemplified by the famous ivory lion-man, dated to around 40,000 years ago.

Cave lions are also depicted on approximately 34,000-year-old rock panels at Grotte Chauvet in southeastern France. New findings show that cave lions were also of special importance to Neanderthals. “Humans’ interest in gaining respect and power through lion bounty dates back to Neanderthal behavior, and until modern times the lion was a powerful symbol of rulers,” says Thomas Terberger, spokesman for the project.

A new study adds to the growing picture of behavioral similarities between Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. A recently carved giant deer bone at Einhornhele revealed the ability of Neanderthals to produce symbols and use them to communicate. The role of cave lions is consistent with evidence of more complex Neanderthal behavior and may even have laid the foundation for later cultural developments in Homo sapiens.