First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals

www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals Gabriele Russo 1,2*, Annemieke Milks 3, Dirk Leder 2, Tim Koddenberg 4, Britt M. Starkovich 5,6, M. Duval 7,8,9, J.‑X. Zhao 10, Robert Darga 11, Wilfried Rosendahl 12,13 & Thomas Terberger 14,2 During the Upper Paleolithic, lions become an important theme in Paleolithic art and are more frequent in anthropogenic faunal assemblages. However, the relationship between hominins and lions in earlier periods is poorly known and primarily interpreted as interspecies competition. Here we present new evidence for Neanderthal-cave lion interactions during the Middle Paleolithic. We report new evidence of hunting lesions on the 48,000 old cave lion skeleton found at Siegsdorf (Germany) that attest to the earliest direct instance of a large predator kill in human history. A comparative analysis of a partial puncture to a rib suggests that the fatal stab was delivered with a wooden thrusting spear. We also present the discovery of distal lion phalanges at least 190,000 old from Einhornhöhle (Germany), representing the earliest example of the use of cave lion skin by Neanderthals in Central Europe. Our study provides novel evidence on a new dimension of Neanderthal behavioral complexity. The relationship between carnivores and hominids has shaped our lineage’s evolutionary pathway and behavior since its inception (see1–5 among others). Over the millennia, landscape sharing and resource competition have resulted in fatal encounters for h ominins6–10 but also in increased occasional and systematic large carnivore exploitation11–18. Furthermore, large carnivores influenced the cultural behavior of Paleolithic humans, who used their body parts as ornaments, and also depicted them in Paleolithic art (e.g.,19–21). Unraveling earlier foundations to these complex relationships is therefore fundamental to the study of human past. Here we report new evidence of interactions between Neanderthals and cave lions from the site of Siegsdorf and Einhornhöhle, both in Germany, and contextualize the new findings with previous archeological and ethnographic studies on human-lion interaction to make inferences about the role of this large predator on human behavior and culture during the Middle Paleolithic. Pleistocene lions and humans Among all the large predators we have encountered during our evolutionary journey, the lion is arguably one of the most charismatic. To this day, it continues to be an icon of popular culture in many traditions worldwide. The story of the lion’s dispersal shares some parallels with that of our own. The lion lineage originated in eastern Africa, with the earliest fossils of lion-like Panthera dated between 3.8 and 3.6 Ma at Laeotoli, T anzania22. A remarkably rapid dispersal occurred during the Middle Pleistocene, as evidenced by the presence of lion (P. 1 Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany. 2Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage, Niedersächsisches Landesamt Für Denkmalpflege, 30175 Hanover, Germany. 3Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6DW, UK. 4Department of Wood Biology and Wood Products, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. 5Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany. 6Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. 7Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana (CENIEH), 09002 Burgos, Spain. 8Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia. 9Palaeoscience Labs, Department Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia. 10Radiogenic Isotope Facility, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. 11Südostbayerisches Naturkunde- Und Mammut-Museum, Siegsdorf, Germany. 12Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Zeughaus C5, 68159 Manssnheim, Germany. 13Curt-Engelhorn-Center of Archaeometrie, C4,8, 68159 Mannheim, Germany. 14Seminar of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany. *email: Scientific Reports | (2023) 13:16405 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42764-0 1 Vol.:(0123456789) www.nature.com/scientificreports/ fossilis) remains in Western Europe (e.g.,13,23). By the Late Pleistocene, the Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea Goldfuss, 1810) occupied the key ecological role of apex predator in the Mammoth Steppe trophic c hain24,25 until its extinction by the end of the Pleistocene26, with the youngest fossils dated to ca. 12.5 ka in Central E urope27. Hominins have been interacting with lions since their arrival in Europe, and possibly even earlier13. The big cat held perceptible significance for Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens groups in Europe (cf.28). This is well illustrated in the Aurignacian by the cave lion depictions in caves of south-eastern France20,29, ivory sculptures including the famous Löwenmensch (Lion man) and figurines from the Swabian Jura’s d eposits30–32, and perforated cave lion canines worn as personal o rnaments19,33,34. During the subsequent Gravettian period, cut marked bones prove the exploitation of lions at sites in the Swabian Jura and M oravia8,17,35. The discovery of nine distal phalanges with cut marks in later Magdalenian levels from La Garma, in northern Spain, documents the exploitation of a lion pelt by H. sapiens21. Finally, by the end of the last glaciation, three cave lion silhouettes were engraved on a bone found at La Vache Cave in southwestern France36. Despite the archaeological record demonstrating the importance the cave lion to our species, it remains unclear how other human species interacted with this apex predator, beyond interspecies competition. The sole evidence for hominin-lion interaction during the Lower Palaeolithic consists of the butchered remains of a P. fossilis at Gran Dolina (level TD10-1), Sierra de Atapuerca, in northern Spain, dated to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9. Although chronologically isolated, this unique find represents the earliest example of exploitation and possible consumption of a large predator by early hominins, including evidence for skinning13. Neanderthals were effective hunters at the top of the food chain and competed with cave lions for prey t axa37. They hunted ursids and other carnivores12,14,15,38,39, and exploited animal resources not only for subsistence but also for non-utilitarian purposes40–45. Nevertheless, during the Middle Paleolithic, evidence for Neanderthal-lion interaction is scarce. Two cut marked lion fibula from level IV of Bolomor Cave (MIS 5), eastern Iberia, attest to the butchery of lion46. Cut marked lion bones come also from the Quina Mousterian deposits of Chez Pinaud, Jonza (...truncated)