Stone Age hunters armed with wooden spears encountered monstrous cave bears (Ursus spelaeus), which weighed more than 750 kg and stood more than 3 meters high.
Archaeological finds, such as a stone spear tip embedded in a cave bear vertebra found in Germany, indicate that humans were hunting these giant animals 290,000 years ago.
However, archaeological evidence suggests that ever since hominins settled Europe, these bears have been on their menu. Moreover, these bears were mainly herbivores.
Archaeologists from the University of Bingen, led by researcher Muntzel, have discovered dozens of signs indicating bear hunting in caves throughout Germany.
In the mid-nineties in the city of Schöningen, eight perfectly preserved copies of prehistoric spears made of spruce and pine were discovered. The age of the weapon is estimated at 300 thousand years, which makes it the oldest artifact of this type ever discovered, meaning that these spears were made 100-150 thousand years before the appearance of Homo sapiens on Earth. According to scientists, it belongs to Man Heidelbergensis, which was the ancestor of Neanderthals.
Other finds near Schöningen, namely numerous animal bones, showed that they needed these spears for hunting. In a recent study conducted by scientists, they proved that prehistoric humans hunted cave bears, and they did so not only for their meat, but also for their skins.
Muntzel and his colleagues found numerous signs of cave bear hunting throughout Germany, dating back to 300,000 years ago. Cut marks on the bones and scratches indicate careful processing of the carcasses. Although in early periods humans could eat corpses, hunting became organized 40,000 years ago. Humans used all parts of bears to make tools and jewelry from the bones. Hunting and competition for caves may have contributed to the extinction of cave bears about 10,000 years ago. The number of bears began to decline with the emergence of Homo sapiens.
The article was published in the journal Quaternary Science Review.