Neolithic boy ‘prince’ bitten by bear – History

A new study has found that the remains of a 15-year-old boy buried with lavish grave goods 27,000 years ago in the Candide Cave in Liguria, northwest Italy, have revealed evidence that he was mauled to death by a bear. It’s the first physical evidence of violent interactions between prehistoric humans and megafauna, and the only evidence in the grave of jointed bones rather than small bone fragments.

The tomb was first discovered in 1942. The body of an adolescent male lies supine on a bed of red ocher, with a patch of yellow ocher beneath his chin. The most ornate artifact found in the tomb was a boy’s headdress, made from hundreds of pierced shells and several deer canines. His tomb also contained an ivory pendant, four antler clubs (spear throwers) and a large flint blade held in his right hand. Because of this extraordinary funeral combination, he was called “Il Principe” (The Prince). It is one of the most richly decorated Gravetian tombs ever discovered in Italy.

Archaeologists who excavated the skeleton immediately discovered severe trauma to the skeleton. The left scapula, left humerus, left clavicle, and left mandible were all partially missing or damaged. The damage was so severe that a hole appeared between his neck, left shoulder and mandible. The yellow ocher lump placed there was most likely related to the wound, either to cover a disfiguring wound or as a ritual healing or restoration of wholeness.

From the outset, the prevailing assumption was that the young man had been attacked by a wild animal during a hunt that went awry. However, the bones and injuries have not been fully studied, and after World War II, when the skeleton was reassembled and displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Liguria, it was patched with resin and glue, hiding some of the fractures.

A team of researchers received authorization from the museum to remove the bones and conduct a thorough analysis using modern technology. In addition to known fractures and missing bones, the team found death bite marks and linear marks on the skull consistent with claw strikes that could not be explained by other potentially fatal scenarios (fall from height, violence inflicted by another person). Given the large carnivores found in the area during the late Pleistocene, the most likely perpetrators were brown bears or cave bears.

The researchers concluded that the lesions on the boy’s skull and ankles were bite and claw marks that, based on their pattern, were likely from cave or brown bear marks. “When this happened, he was probably a fledgling hunter still learning his craft,” said study lead author Vitale Stefano Sparacello, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cagliari in Italy.

The animal dislodged the boy’s jawbone, left a groove in his skull, broke his collarbone and left bite marks on his right ankle. Even the boy’s left little toe was broken. Although we don’t know for sure, Sparacello believes the injuries indicate a bear viewed the boy as a threat to be eliminated rather than a meal, since the bears primarily eat plants.

Microscopic examination revealed a small amount of evidence of bone healing. This meant that the poor young man only lived a few days, no more than three, after being completely ravaged by the animal. This meant that although the prince’s face and shoulders were torn and his feet were bitten, his major blood vessels were still intact, otherwise he would have bled to death immediately. He must have been rescued by his companions and taken to safety.

The study was published in journal of anthropological sciences It can be read here (pdf).