The remains of a saber-toothed cat have been found in a 300,000-year-old layer of rock stratum where scientists have also located wooden spears, indicating that early humans also inhabited the same area and likely fought the cat or defended themselves against it.
The excavation took place in the Schöningen open-cast coal mine in north-central Germany. At the time the saber-toothed cat was living, the area was the bank of a shallow lake.
Scientists from the Lower Saxony Heritage Authority and of the University of Tübingen conducted the excavation. Upon finding the saber-toothed cat remains in 2012, the archaeologists determined that it was highly likely that early humans confronted the cat, which would have weighed about 200 kilograms and had canine teeth up to 10 centimeters long.
The researchers said that in the context of a saber-toothed cat in the vicinity, the spears of early humans must have been used for both hunting and defense and would have been a vital tool for survival.
"The find shows that the saber-toothed cat died out later in central Europe than previously believed," the University of Tübingen wrote in a statement.
The same layer of rock where the spears were excavated also yielded bones and stone tools that are indicative that early humans - likely homo heidelbergenis - hunted horses and camped along the lakeside.
Anatomically modern humans are thought to have reached Europe about 40,000 years ago, but the researchers suggest that long before that, modern man's ancestors were able to defend themselves with weapons.