Archaeologists find cave where prehistoric humans once sacrificed giant lions
The find was made in Imanai cave, in the Russian republic of Bashkiria, and it is causing excitement among Russian archeologists. In the excavation of a small area deep inside the cave, scientists discovered some 500 bones of giant cave lions - a unique discovery anywhere in the world.
They also found a cave bear skull pierced with an ancient spear. Weapons were also found - but no signs that pre-historic people lived in the cave.
Senior researcher Pavel Kosintsev, of the regional Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, said: 'We found about 500 bones and fragments of bones of the giant cave lion. But there could be more, after we finish with sorting the collection.
'Such a large quantity of giant cave lion bones at one site is really unique, the only one in the world so farThe researchers also uncovered ten Mousterian stone spearheads. Previously only two had been located in the entire Urals region of Russia.
'The spearheads are the only sign of human activity - and it is also quite strange,' Mr Kosintsev said. 'If ancient people lived in this cave, they should have left the traces of making the spearheads, and bones of the animals which people ate. Here we see only the spearheads and it is further evidence in favour of the sanctuary hypothesis. People did not live here, they used this place for some other purposes, most likely, as a sanctuary.' discovered.'
http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/features/f0144-worlds-greatest-ever-haul-of-supersize-cave-lion-bones-found-in-urals/
A cave in the Urals gave up an eerie find from its dark depths: Russian archaeologists have discovered 500 bones belonging to giant cave lions, indicating the location was likely the site of 60,000-year-old religious sacrifices, The Siberian Times reports.
While giant cave lions went extinct around 13,000 years ago, scientists know they typically did not venture deep into caves. The bones of approximately six lions, found more than 300 feet from the cave entrance, are actually believed to have belonged to "sick or injured lions, or lost cubs," according to senior researcher Pavel Kosintsev. Kosintsev expects that the cave was used as an "ancient sanctuary" and the prehistoric people living in the region brought the lions down into the cave's depths. Additionally, a cave bear's skull, pierced through with a spear, was discovered in the cave, despite no known evidence that ancient man hunted cave bears.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/573646/archaeologists-find-cave-where-prehistoric-humans-once-sacrificed-giant-lions
This subspecies was one of the largest lions. The skeleton of an adult male, which was found in 1985 near Siegsdorf (Germany), had a shoulder height of around 1.2 m (4 ft) and a head-body length of 2.1 m (7 ft) without the tail.[citation needed] This is similar to the size of a very large modern lion. The size of this male has been exceeded by other specimens of this subspecies. Therefore, this cat may have been around 8%-10% bigger than modern lions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_leo_spelaea
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