Editing Cave bear (section)

==Relationship with humans==
[[File:De nyeste Kunstretninger og smitsomme Sindslidelser-Vægtegning i Combarelles.png|thumb|Cave bear (upper right) along with other animals depicted in [[rock art]] from the [[Les Combarelles]] cave]] 
Between the years 1917 and 1923, the Drachenloch cave in Switzerland was excavated by Emil Bächler. The excavation uncovered more than 30,000 cave bear skeletons. It also uncovered a stone chest or [[cist]], consisting of a low wall built from limestone slabs near a cave wall with a number of bear skulls inside it. A cave bear skull was also found with a femur bone from another bear stuck inside it. Scholars speculated that it was proof of prehistoric human religious rites involving the cave bear, or that the Drachenloch cave bears were hunted as part of a hunting ritual, or that the skulls were kept as trophies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.showcaves.com/english/ch/caves/Drachenloch.html |title=Caves of Switzerland: Drachenloch |access-date=2013-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508045303/http://www.showcaves.com/english/ch/caves/Drachenloch.html |archive-date=2013-05-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In ''Archaeology, Religion, Ritual'' (2004), archaeologist [[Timothy Insoll]] strongly questions whether the Drachenloch finds in the stone cist were the result of human interaction. Insoll states that the evidence for religious practices involving cave bears in this time period is "far from convincing". Insoll also states that comparisons with the religious practices involving bears that are known from historic times are invalid.<ref>Insoll, Timothy, ''Archaeology, Religion, Ritual'' (2004), Routledge (London), {{ISBN|0415253136}}</ref>

A similar phenomenon was encountered in Regourdou, southern France. A rectangular pit contained the remains of at least twenty bears, covered by a massive stone slab. The remains of a [[Neanderthal]] lay nearby in another stone pit, with various objects, including a bear [[humerus]], a scraper, a core, and some flakes, which were interpreted as grave offerings.

An unusual discovery in a deep chamber of [[Toirano Caves|Basura Cave]] in [[Savona]], Italy, is thought to be related to cave bear worship, because there is a vaguely [[zoomorphism|zoomorphic]] [[stalagmite]] surrounded by clay pellets. It is thought to have been used by Neanderthals for a ceremony; bear bones scattered on the floor further suggests it was likely to have had some sort of ritual purpose.<ref>{{cite book|title=Humankind emerging|year=1996 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York|pages=440–441|edition=7th |isbn= 0-673-52364-0|author1=B.G. Campbell |author2=J.D. Loy }}</ref>