Gee, I dunno, I specifically recall reading as a teenager in the late Peter Hathaway Capstick’s 1977 classic “Death in the Long Grass” that the big cats are practically inedible. It would be insanely dangerous to take one one with spears. Which is not to say it isn’t done. In addition to the Masai moran, the Mycenaean Greeks went in for spearing lions but it was a dangerous sport.
I’ll wager a lot more H. Heidelbergensis were eaten by lions than vice versa.
How many lions are found (outside of zoos) in Europe today? There’s not even much from Greek and Roman times about these critters, although they are known to have been hunted by the Assyrian kings (they went missing in the 7th c, a little misunderstanding with the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians) in the Near East. The paleolithic people of Europe were ganging up on their prey, including mammoth, for a long while. Getting rid of lions would have the added bonus of the safety of the group.
“that the big cats are practically inedible”
I dont know - did they have Chinese restaurants back then..?