Magnificent Fossilised Ice Age Cave Bear Paw in Glass Dome. 65,000 years old.

A complete and superb large example of a fossilised cave bear paw (Ursus spelaeus).

Dating from the Pleistocene period: 65,000 years old. From a private collection.

Mounted on a brass stand and displayed in a 19th century oval glass dome with ebonised base. A superb scarce and unusual display piece. 

Glass dome Height 52cm x Width 28cm, Depth 21cm. Paw Height 29cm.

Found throughout caves of Europe, the Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus) was named after the places where its remains are commonly found: caves from England to the Caspian Sea with the majority concentrated in Central and Eastern European mountain chains.  Remains found in caves near the North Sea and in The Netherlands show that the range of Ursus spelaeus eventually spread into the lowland forests of western Europe.  In this last region, populations drastically declined around 40,000 years ago finally becoming extinct during the last glacial period.

Ursus spelaeus was a huge omnivorous bear that resided in caves year-round compared to modern bears which only use caves as a shelter for hibernation.  When standing on its hind legs, the height of this beast would have averaged 10 feet tall!  Skulls have been found 20 inches in length!  The closest relative is our modern day brown bear but the cave bear averages 30% greater in size.