Is it a cave lion or a cave bear? As seen from the front right.Image credit: Ria Litzenberg/University of Tubingen
Posted on 08/11/2023 1:09:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The long-lost 'body' of mysterious ice age animal carving was discovered in German cave, but archaeologists aren't sure if it's a cave lion or cave bear.
Archaeologists in Germany have discovered the missing piece of an ice age carving deep in a cave. But the new addition of the ivory carving, originally thought to depict a horse, has actually complicated matters: Now, researchers aren't sure if it portrays a cave lion or a cave bear.
Researchers previously found the head of the 35,000-year-old figurine in the cave Hohle Fels in the mountainous Swabian Jura region in the southern part of the country. The cave, which translates to "hollow rock" in German, is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is well known for its Upper Paleolithic (about 50,000 to 12,000 years ago) artifacts. At the time, the carved head was the first known ivory carving from the cave.
But the newfound "body" part of the carving has thrown the equine interpretation out the window... The carving likely depicts a bear... But the carving also has similar anatomical features to a cave lion, which lived in Eurasia at the time.
After the initial 1999 finding of the head, researchers unearthed a total of five fragments of the ivory figurine, including a small piece of cheek. "It therefore makes sense to look extra carefully for the missing parts of this animal in the years to come," Conard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Is it a cave lion or a cave bear? As seen from the front right.Image credit: Ria Litzenberg/University of Tubingen
I say it is a Dire Wolf.
LOL!
Were the pieces superglued together?
looks like a giant land sloth
Drooling rectum?
Or an ant eater.
Be careful. Not sure where that thing’s been!
So your saying it’s a two faced scum sucking weasel?
Bear....................
The head doesn’t look like it goes to the body if the piece was a solid one-piece carving that broke apart.
Xacly
It plainly says on the side of it “O E O O H” which is Neanderthal for “Bear”.
That looks like pretty good art work for 35,000 years ago. I’m not sure I would want to equate to a scientific discovery of a new mammal however.
Around my neck of the woods they found some “tools” that were 8,000 years old. To me they looked pretty much like rocks.
Oh! good one
I’m waiting for a Gary Larson cartoon.
What ever it is, it looks like it has a halter on it’s nose. That is curious...
Manbearpig?
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