The history of lions in Europe is based on fossils of Pleistocene and Holocene lions excavated in Europe since the early 19th century. The first lionfossil was excavated in southern Germany and described by Georg August Goldfuss using the scientific nameFelis spelaea, which probably dates to the Würm glaciation and is 191,000 to 57,000 years old. Older lion skull fragments were excavated in Germany and described by :de:Wilhelm von Reichenau |Wilhelm von Reichenau under Felis fossilis in 1906. These are estimated at between 621,000 and 533,000 years old. The modern lion inhabited parts of Southern Europe since the early Holocene. Its diet probably included aurochs, red deer, tarpan, wild boar and other herbivores. Historical literature, such as the Iliad of ancient Greece, features lion similes.
Characteristics
Bone fragments of fossil spelaea lions indicate that they were bigger than the modern lion and had less specialized lower teeth, reduced lower premolars and smaller incisors. As indicated by numerous artistic depictions, modern lions in the Balkans had less developed manes, and lacked abdominal and lateral manes as well as limb hair. Οn the other hand, lions from Transcaucasia exhibited all these features.
The earliest subfossil lion remains to date were excavated in Basque Country and are about 9,600–7,000 years old, dating to the Boreal period. There are doubts if this was a modern lion or a late surviving spelaea cave lion. A neolithic lion tooth fragment representing the Atlantic Period was found in Karanovo, Bulgaria, and is estimated 6,000 years old. In Greece lions first appeared around 6,500–6,000 years ago as indicated by a front leg bone found in Philippi. Bone fragments of the modern lion were excavated in Hungary and in Ukraine's Black Sea region, which are estimated at around 5,500 to 3,000 years old. Remains were also found in Albania, Romania and European Turkey.
Historic range of ''Panthera leo''
In Southeast Europe, the lion inhabited part of the Balkan peninsula up to Hungary and Ukraine during the Neolithic period. It survived in Bulgaria until the 4th or 3rd century BC. It became extinct in the Peloponnese around 1,000 BC. It disappeared from Macedonia around the first centuryAD, from Western Thrace not before the 2nd century AD and from Thessaly possibly in the 4th century AD, as Themistius regrets that in his time it disappeared from the latter and no more lions could be furnished for beast-shows. In Transcaucasia, the lion was present until the 10th century. The peak of its historic range covered all of the plains and foothills of eastern Transcaucasia westward almost to Tbilisi. Northwards, its range extended through the eastern Caucasus, from the Apsheron Peninsula to the mouth of the Samur River near the current Azerbaijan-Russia border, extending to the Araks river. From there, the boundary of its range narrowly turned east to Yerevan, with its northern boundary then extending westward to Turkey. A Bronze Age statue of a lion from either southern Italy or southern Spain from c. 1000–1200 years CE, the "Mari-Cha Lion", was put on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
In culture
Lions feature in ancient Greek mythology and writings, including the myth of the Nemean lion, which was believed to be a supernatural lion that occupied the sacred town of Nemea in the Peloponnese. Homer mentioned lions 45 times in his poems, but this could have been due to his experience in Asia Minor. Phalaecus, a tyrant of Amvrakia, was allegedly killed by a female lion due to his holding a newborn lion cub, after finding it on a hunting expedition. Conon refers to the myth of how Olynthus city got its name, when during around the period of the Trojan War, son of Strymon, Olynthos during a lion hunt was killed by a lion. According to Herodotus lions occurred between Achelous river and Nestus, being plentiful between Akanthos and Thermi. When Xerxes advanced near Echedorus in 480 BC, the troops' camels were attacked by lions. Xenophon stated around 400 BC that lions were hunted around Mount Kissos, Pangaio, the Pindus mountains and elsewhere. Aristotle in the 4th century BC provided some data on lion distribution, behaviour, breeding and also anatomy. According to him, lions were more numerous in North Africa than in Europe; they had approached towns, and attacked people only if they were old, or had poor dental health. Pliny the Elder mentions that European lions were stronger compared to those from Syria and Africa. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias referred to lion presence east of Nestus in Thrace, in the area of Abdera. He also referred to a story about Polydamas of Skotoussa, an Olympic winner in the 5th century BC, who allegedly used his bare hands to kill a lion on Thessalian part of Mount Olympus; and to one about Caranus of Macedon who according to the Macedonians, raised a trophy that was thrown down and destroyed by a lion that was rushing down from Mount Olympus. The Romans used Barbary lions from North Africa for lion-baiting, and lions from Greece for gladiatorial games.
