Abstract
Pleistocene skinning and exploitation of carnivore furs have been previously inferred from archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence of skinning and fur processing tends to be weak and the interpretations are not strongly sustained by the archaeological record. In the present paper, we analyze unique evidence of patterned anthropic modification and skeletal representation of fossil remains of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). This site is one of the few that provides Pleistocene examples of lion exploitation by humans. Our archaeozoological study suggests that lion-specialized pelt exploitation and use might have been related to ritual activities during the Middle Magdalenian period (ca. 14800 cal BC). Moreover, the specimens also represent the southernmost European and the latest evidence of cave lion exploitation in Iberia. Therefore, the study seeks to provide alternative explanations for lion extinction in Eurasia and argues for a role of hunting as a factor to take into account.
Highlights
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files
Specific site conservation standards required the analysis of the fossils in situ, with no permission granted to remove them from the site and with the stipulation that they be replaced in the same exact position after the analysis (S1 Fig)
This has been proved by studying cave lion fossils recovered at the site, allowing us to contribute to the debate on Upper Paleolithic subsistence and faunal exploitation strategies, as well as in those linked with behavioral and ritualistic aspects of human cognitive evolution
Summary
Our aim is to provide new data on hominin-carnivore interaction during the European Late Pleistocene, and to contribute to the debate on cave lion extinction and the hardly known unrevealed exploitation and use of cave lions by human groups
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