“A bear’s winter coat consists of both long outer hairs that form an airy protective layer and short, dense hairs that provide particularly good insulation. Bears, including extinct cave bears, needed a highly insulating coat for hibernation.” In their study, Dr. Verheijen and colleagues examined the 320,000-year-old bear bones from the Schöningen site in Germany.The very thin cut marks found on the specimens indicate delicate butchering and show similarities in butchery patterns to bears from other Paleolithic sites.
“These newly discovered cut marks are an indication that about 300,000 years ago, people in northern Europe were able to survive in winter thanks in part to warm bear skins,” Dr. Verheijen said.
Schöningen plays a crucial role in the discussion about the origin of hunting, because the world’s oldest spears were discovered here. There are some indications only adult animals are found at an archaeological site. This is usually considered an indication of hunting — at Schöningen, all the bear bones and teeth belonged to adult individuals. In addition, bear skin must be removed shortly after the animal’s death, otherwise the hair is lost and the skin becomes unusable.
more with link to original paper in Journal of Human Evolution
https://www.sci.news/archaeology/schoni ... 11508.html