(ORDO NEWS) — At the site of ancient people in the German city of Schöningem, the remains of cave bears with traces of careful skinning and related tools were found.
Scientists believe that these dangerous predators were deliberately hunted because of their warm skin.
Evidence of the exploitation of bear skins is about 320 thousand years old. These are the bones of bears with incisions in those places from which the skin is removed in order to preserve its integrity as much as possible.
At the same time, there is no evidence of the use of bear meat in the descriptions of the Lower Paleolithic sites.
Similar bones with signs of skillful cutting were found in other places – Boxgrove (Great Britain), Bilzingsleben (Germany), Isernia la Pineta (Molise, Italy).
The skin of the cave bear is warm and has high insulating properties, which played a role in the adaptation of hominids to the harsh winter conditions of Northwestern Europe.
The intentional extraction of the skins of bears is evidenced by the fact that near the camps of people, mostly bones of adults were found. The cubs’ skin is not yet thick, and the old bears also have poor quality wool.
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