Archaeologists in Germany have discovered a missing piece of ice age carving in the depths of a cave. But a new addition to the carving, originally thought to be a horse, has actually made things more difficult: researchers are now unsure whether it depicts a cave lion or a cave bear.
Earlier, researchers discovered the head of a 35,000-year-old figurine in the Hole Fels cave in the mountainous region of the Swabian Jura in the south of the country. Then the "carved" head became the first known carving from this cave.
But the newly discovered 'body' of the figurine called into question the version of the horse. "We still cannot unambiguously identify the animal species,"said Nicholas Konrad , professor in the department of prehistoric archeology and ecology at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
The figurine now has a massive body, with the bear's characteristic pronounced hump at shoulder level, and is positioned in a pose that can mimic a bear's trot.
Source livescience.com
