Archaeologists find cave where prehistoric humans once sacrificed giant lions

A cave in the Urals gave up an eerie find from its dark depths: Russian archaeologists have discovered 500 bones belonging to giant cave lions, indicating the location was likely the site of 60,000-year-old religious sacrifices, The Siberian Times reports.

While giant cave lions went extinct around 13,000 years ago, scientists know they typically did not venture deep into caves. The bones of approximately six lions, found more than 300 feet from the cave entrance, are actually believed to have belonged to "sick or injured lions, or lost cubs," according to senior researcher Pavel Kosintsev. Kosintsev expects that the cave was used as an "ancient sanctuary" and the prehistoric people living in the region brought the lions down into the cave's depths. Additionally, a cave bear's skull, pierced through with a spear, was discovered in the cave, despite no known evidence that ancient man hunted cave bears.

However, people likely did not live in the cave as researchers found no trace of the artifacts used for daily life, other than finding a smattering of stone spearheads. "They used this place for some other purpose," Kosintsev said.

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