Man of 6,000 years ago survived lion attack in Bulgaria, skeleton reveals
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Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of a young man who lived 6,000 years ago and survived a brutal encounter with a lion.
A study published in the February 2026 issue of the Peer-reviewed Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports focuses on the Late Eneolithic necropolis in the Thrace region of eastern Bulgaria.
The subject of the study is the skeleton of a man who died between the ages of 18 and 30. Standing over 5 feet 7 inches tall, this man was born in the Late Eneolithic Age, B.C. He lived between 4600 and 4200 BC.
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The tomb is near another archaeological site called Kozareva Mogila or Goat Mound, near the Black Sea coast.
Analyzing the skeleton, researchers found severe skull and limb injuries, including puncture wounds to the man’s skull.
Archaeologists examining a Late Eneolithic grave in eastern Bulgaria have uncovered skeletal evidence of a prehistoric lion attack that left a young man alive thousands of years ago. (iStock; Veselin Danov)
These wounds indicate an attack by a large carnivore, and interestingly the wounds appear to have healed, meaning he survived the encounter.
The injury occurred during adolescence, possibly between ages 10 and 18, the study authors said.
Nadezhda Karastoyanova, a paleontologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, told Fox News Digital that lions were found in eastern Bulgaria during the Late Eneolithic period.
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Karastoyanova headed the zooarchaeological analysis and credited her colleagues Veselin Danov, Petya Petrova, and Viktoria Ruseva with documenting, interpreting, and analyzing the skeleton.
“There is direct archaeological evidence of interaction between humans and lions,” Karastoyanova said. “More than 15 lion remains have been identified at prehistoric sites in Bulgaria, some with cut marks indicating hunting and mauling.”
“These injuries would have made independent survival impossible [and] Long-term care and support from the surrounding community is highly recommended.”
He added: “The highest concentration of lion remains comes from areas along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, such as Durankulak and the Sozopol area. The burial site of this individual is within the same wider area, making encounters between humans and large predators a realistic possibility.”
He observed that such skeletal evidence of prehistoric animal attacks on humans is “extremely rare.”
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“In this case, skeletal trauma not only persists in the archaeological record, but also shows clear signs of healing indicative of long-term survival,” he said.
He added that injuries to the skull “probably led to neurological consequences” including epileptic seizures.
Puncture wounds found on a young man’s skull indicate an encounter with a large carnivore during Bulgaria’s Late Eneolithic, researchers say. (Veselin Danov)
“Combined with other impairments, these injuries would make independent survival impossible [and] Long-term care and support from the surrounding community is highly recommended.”
Karastoyanova was stunned that the man survived for months after the attack, saying it “provides a rare insight into resilience and social care in Eneolithic societies.”
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Interestingly, Karastoyanova noted that the man’s grave was among the poorest in the necropolis and that there were no grave goods.
“This contrasts sharply with the nearby Eneolithic Necropolis of Varna, dating to the same period, which contains some of the oldest and richest gold burials in the world,” he said.
The necropolis was discovered in the Thrace region of eastern Bulgaria, seen here. (iStock)
“This juxtaposition highlights the strong social diversity of Eneolithic societies, where inequality of wealth coexisted with evidence of the care and support of vulnerable individuals.”
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Archaeological evidence of lion-inflicted injuries is rare, but not without precedent.
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Last spring, excavators found lion wound marks on a skeleton found in a Roman cemetery outside York, England.
