Our Ancestors Used Cave Lions As Carpets

Humans used cave lions as decorations.

As we already know, our ancestors used to live in caves 16 000 years ago. What could surprise you is that they decorated the caves with lion pelts. Researchers discovered some areas in Spain that proved that people were using animals to survive since those times. According to the scientists,humans were the reason why cave lions disappeared.

Researchers from the Italian Institute of Human and Social Evolution discovered the lion pelts and bones that proved people used those animals. The big question is why they were using the lion caves. It seems that mostly for decorative reasons.  The research lasted for years and scientists were able to discover almost 30 000 fossils, but most of them were from goats or horses. It was unusual for the researchers to find  plots from cave horses.

Another interesting thing is that the cave has not been touched for thousands of years. The lion pelts looked like someone stayed there all the time and took care of the place. The ancestors brought home only the pelts and the claws of the animals.

Researchers tried to understand why our ancestors would bring only the claws. They believe that the claws were connected to the pelts and this is why they were found in the cave. Our ancestors had to survive difficult times. At the moment, we have the technology and we know how to protect from animals or other dangers.

However, at that moment, they did not have the items to protect and it is possible that their brain was not as developed as we have it now. The animals were their enemies but they learned how to hunt. Our ancestors discovered how other creatures could be used for food, tools, and decorations.

Cave lions disappeared thousands of years ago. The skeleton of an adult male, which was found  had a shoulder height of around 1.2 m (3.9 ft) and a head-body length of 2.1 m (6.9 ft). Humans found a way to hunt them and used their plots for the caves. It seems that even thousands of years ago people were in interested in decorating their homes.

Image source: Wikipedia