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The aurochs’ deadly struggle

The aurochs died in the course of a hunting expedition in which the hunters may have used dogs. Perhaps the hunters followed the aurochs for several days in order to finally find the right moment to kill it. The aurochs’ encounter with the hunters proved fatal for it. The hunters killed the aurochs near a lake in the woods. Their arrowheads hit its body, but it is not known how many were fired. When it was found the remains of three flint arrowheads were recovered. Pain and fright had apparently driven it away from the hunters and out into the lake. It was here, after a period of time, it drowned and sank to the bottom, only to be found many years later during peat-digging. A carbon 14 date for the bones shows that it died around 8600 BC, in the early part of the Maglemosian period.

The aurochs' deasly struggle
The aurochs' deasly struggle
The coloured circles indicate the wounds from the arrows that struck the aurochs.
The aurochs' deasly struggle
The aurochs was an important animal for the hunters who made the cave paintings at Lascaux 16,000 years ago. One of the biggest images in the cave is this bull, drawn with a spear pointing at its heart.