A Stone Age teenager whose remains were discovered in 1942 did indeed meet the violent end that had long been suspected. Scientific American reports that a reexamination of the famed "Il Principe" skeleton, found in an Italian cave and dating back 27,000 years, produced strong evidence he was mauled by a bear, likely a cave or brown bear. That's significant from an archaeological perspective. "Despite ample evidence that Paleolithic humans hunted large and dangerous carnivores ... skeletal evidence of negative interactions with wild fauna is extremely rare in the Homo sapiens paleobiological record," researchers write. "To date, the only individual for whom an animal attack has been hypothesized based on their pattern of traumatic lesions" is Il Principe.
Using optic magnification to scrutinize old injuries, researchers report in a study published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences that they reviewed lesions on the skull, a broken clavicle, a fractured little toe, and an ankle bite. "Given the overall traumatic
pattern, a bear attack ... remains the most plausible explanation," they write. Their analysis suggests the teen, thought to be 15 or 16, survived for a few days after the mauling. He was laid to rest in an unusually ornate grave—a handwoven shell cap had been placed on his head—and the researchers suggest "the violent event and the long agony may have been reflected in the elaborate burial."
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