A new analysis of the skeleton indicates that the teenager died an agonizing death after an attack by a bear. Scientists speculate that his painful death could explain the luxurious artifacts found in his tomb, rather than being a sign of his social status.
One of the most elaborate Paleolithic burials ever discovered may have a much darker story behind it than previously believed. A new report published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences suggests that a teenager buried nearly 28,000 years ago in northern Italy died after suffering a prolonged and agonizing attack by a large predator, probably a bear.
The individual, nicknamed Il Principe (“The Prince”) due to extraordinary wealth of his funerary objectswas discovered in 1942 in the Arene Candide Cave, in Liguria. Radiocarbon dating places the burial between 27,900 and 27,300 years ago, during the Gravetian period of the Upper Paleolithic. The tomb contained hundreds of pierced shells, carved horns, mammoth ivory pendants, and a finely crafted flint blade, all symbols of high social status.
However, a new analysis of the skeleton found that the bones showed extensive trauma, including fractures to the skull, teeth, jaw, neck and clavicle, as well as a punctured fibula. A large portion of the jaw and shoulder bones were still completely absent.
“The overall traumatic pattern resembles injuries seen in modern high-impact accidents,” the authors write, “but, in this prehistoric context, is more plausibly explained by a attack by a large animal.” After ruling out falls and interpersonal violence, investigators concluded that an attack by a wild animal was the most likely cause of death.
At the time, northern Italy harbored several dangerous predatorsincluding grizzly bears, cave bears, cave lions and leopards. Although researchers cannot definitively identify the attacker, they note that the distribution and severity of the injuries correspond more to those typically caused by bears than by big cats, says the .
Notably, the skeleton shows early signs of healing, indicating that the teenager survived two to three days after the attack. The lack of damage to the main arteries suggests that he did not die of hemorrhage immediately. Instead, investigators believe he likely died of internal bleeding, organ failure or traumatic brain injury after days of extreme suffering.
The study also proposes a new explanation for the luxurious burial. Rather than reflecting royal or elite status, funerary objects may represent a ritual on the part of the community to respond to an extraordinary and traumatic event. Corroborating this idea, researchers note that other richly decorated Gravettian burials also involve individuals with unusual injuries or physical anomalies.
According to the authors, formal burial in this period may have been reserved not for the elite, but for individuals whose deaths were seen as exceptional and potentially disruptive, requiring special ritual recognition.
