The roar shook the meadow and nearby animals fled in disarray. A liondriven by hunger or the defense of his territory, launches himself forcefully against a young man who barely has time to react. The assault knocked him down and the fangs sank into his head and arms. The fight was brief, unequal and brutal.
The body remained motionless on the ground, and only the group intervention He let the attacker walk away, leaving behind a series of deep wounds that will forever mark his victim’s life.
Bone analysis pinpoints a big cat as responsible
Thousands of years later, a team of archaeologists in Bulgaria found traces of it. In the necropolis of Kozareva Mogilanear the Black Sea, researchers discovered the remains of a man between 18 and 30 years old who survived the attack of a big cat. The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reportsshows that the young man was caring for months or years before dyingan early example of community care in the Copper Age.
Comparative analyzes revealed that the injuries corresponded to lion bites. The researchers used high-precision silicone molds and compared the skull markings with those on the teeth of large carnivores. The small depression on the right side corresponded to the upper third premolar of a lion, while the hole in the left parietal, measuring approximately 22 by 19 millimeters, corresponded to the impact of a canine tooth. The arrangement of the wounds and the depth of the marks They excluded both weapons of the time and attacks by small animals.like lynxes or leopards.
He the skull showed signs of serious damage but also healing. The edges of the fractures were covered with a bony callus consolidated, without active infection. The specialists deduced that the injuries had occurred several months before the death and that the a young man lived with significant consequences. Bony reactions in the clavicle and humerus indicated serious muscle injuries, likely from wrestling during the attack. Her healing was only possible thanks to the help of his communitywho fed and cared for him until the end.
The type of burial suggests a social position difficult to integrate.
The burial, however, reflects an ambiguous social position. The tomb, deeper than the others in the necropolis, did not contain any funerary objects, an unusual detail. It was located in a space reserved for adolescents and young people, also without trousseau, which suggests a differentiated symbolic or ritual category.
The authors of the study raise two possibilities: that their the disability would relegate him to a status similar to that of the youngest or that its appearance, marked by scars and possible neurological after-effects, would provoke fear and motivate a unique funeral treatment.
The case of Kozareva Mogila offers a unique perspective on human relations in the Eneolithic. The survival of this individual demonstrates that his the community had basic knowledge of healing and a social structure capable of caring for the seriously injured. The discovery confirms the presence of the lion in the Balkans more than 6,000 years ago and constitutes one of the oldest evidence of an attack of this type in Europe. Beyond the horror of the event, the remains of Tomb 59 reveal a society that valued the lives of its members and assumed its responsibilities. take care as a common dutyeven when survival was uncertain.
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