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The existence of an ancient bear cult among Neanderthals in Western Eurasia in the Middle Paleolithic has been a subject of conjecture due to contentious archaeological findings. [4] Evidence suggests that Neanderthals could have worshipped the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) and bear bones have been discovered in several cave sites across Western ...
Numerous cave bear skulls were found alongside evidence of human habitation in Middle Paleolithic caves, which lead scientists to assume the existence of a bear cult. The bones were most often of cave bears and more rarely of brown bears. [39] The skulls were placed in a cave niche or other prominent places, presumably for worship.
Apart from a Neanderthal skeleton discovered in 1957, excavator Eugène Bonifay found a large number of brown bear bones, several pits and stone platforms that contained bear bones. These were interpreted as evidence of a Middle Palaeolithic bear cult.
Other archaeologists, such as Ina Wunn , find the evidence for the "bear cult" unconvincing. Wunn interprets Neanderthals as a pre-religious people, and the presence of bear remains around Neanderthal habitats as a coincidental association; as cave bears by their nature dwell in caves, their bones should be expected to be found there. [13]
The Neanderthal DNA found in modern human genomes has long raised questions about ancient interbreeding. New studies offer a timeline of when that occurred and when ancient humans left Africa.
The existence of an ancient bear cult among Neanderthals in the Middle Paleolithic period has been a topic of discussion spurred by archaeological findings. [11] Ancient bear bones have been discovered in several different caves and their peculiar arrangement is believed by some archaeologists to be evidence of a bear cult during the ...
Slimak determined that this particular Neanderthal lived 42,000 years ago, towards the end of that species’ time on this planet. As such, he named the Neanderthal Thorin after the Tolkien character.
A Neanderthal was buried 75,000 years ago, and experts painstakingly pieced together what she looked like. The striking recreation is featured in a new Netflix documentary, “Secrets of the ...