Paleolithic humans in Europe dealt with saber-toothed cats, study shows

Spear no. 8 at Schöningen in situ. P. Pfarr NLD, Wikimedia Commons

Either as hunters or the hunted, prehistoric humans interacted with saber-toothed cats 300,000 years ago.

Any artist-created images you may have seen depicting prehistoric humans hunting or fighting with saber-toothed cats may not represent a scene very far from reality about 300,000 years ago when Lower Paleolithic humans actually did share the same environment with the big cats in what is present-day Europe.

According to scientists who have studied remains unearthed at the archaeological site of Schöningen in north-central Germany, the wooden spear-making humans who lived in the region of the site had up-close-and-personal contact with the European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens) about 300,000 years ago. Whether they interacted with the big cats as their predators (hunter) or as defenders (the hunted), is still open to question and debate. [...] Popular Archaeology  / Link 2

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