Archaeologists found the massive pile of bones while exploring the lava tube of Umm Jirsan that has been radiocarbon dated to several eras spanning over 7,000 years.
The team suggests striped hyenas are behind the bed of bones that consists of 40 different species, and includes horses, donkeys, camels, goat, gazelle and even other hyenas.
In addition to the animal bones, three human cranial remains were discovered – hyenas are known for rummaging through human graves for meat.
Striped hyenas are nocturnal and will feed on practically anything, including herbivories, carnivores, insects and plants.
These animals also use their powerful jaws to gnaw and crush bones.
The lava tube was first discovered in 2007, but researchers said they heard growling from inside and refused to travel deep into the cavern.
However, scientists from with the Saudi Geological Survey, King Saud University, and the German Max Planck Institute braved the windy cavern until they came upon chambers, each with a sea of bones.
'Bones, mostly representing carnivore accumulations, were found throughout and were particularly concentrated in the very western part of the system,' Mathew Stewart with Max Planck and colleagues wrote in the study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
The team further investigated one chamber they refer to as the 'Wolf Den' due to the massive amount of bones found inside.
A total of 1,917 bones and teeth were collected from the tens of thousands of bones inside the den for further investigation and 1,073 of them were identifiable to a specific skeletal element.
Approximately 13 samples selected for radiocarbon dating, which showed some bones were 6,839 years old.
The human remains uncovered inside the Wolf Den were nothing more than skull caps.
The Umm Jirsan lava tube, located in the desert region of Haret Bani Rashid, in eastern Khaybar, is believed to be one of several lava tubes in the area, caves that were formed within a lava from a nearby volcano thousands of years ago.
The system consists of three lava-tube passages separated by two collapses and measures 4,859 feet in length, making it the largest surveyed cave system in Saudi Arabia and the longest lava-tube system in the entire Arabian Peninsula.
Source: Springer, Daily Mail, Pexels
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The team suggests striped hyenas are behind the bed of bones that consists of 40 different species, and includes horses, donkeys, camels, goat, gazelle and even other hyenas.
In addition to the animal bones, three human cranial remains were discovered – hyenas are known for rummaging through human graves for meat.
Striped hyenas are nocturnal and will feed on practically anything, including herbivories, carnivores, insects and plants.
These animals also use their powerful jaws to gnaw and crush bones.
The lava tube was first discovered in 2007, but researchers said they heard growling from inside and refused to travel deep into the cavern.
However, scientists from with the Saudi Geological Survey, King Saud University, and the German Max Planck Institute braved the windy cavern until they came upon chambers, each with a sea of bones.
'Bones, mostly representing carnivore accumulations, were found throughout and were particularly concentrated in the very western part of the system,' Mathew Stewart with Max Planck and colleagues wrote in the study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
The team further investigated one chamber they refer to as the 'Wolf Den' due to the massive amount of bones found inside.
A total of 1,917 bones and teeth were collected from the tens of thousands of bones inside the den for further investigation and 1,073 of them were identifiable to a specific skeletal element.
Approximately 13 samples selected for radiocarbon dating, which showed some bones were 6,839 years old.
The human remains uncovered inside the Wolf Den were nothing more than skull caps.
The Umm Jirsan lava tube, located in the desert region of Haret Bani Rashid, in eastern Khaybar, is believed to be one of several lava tubes in the area, caves that were formed within a lava from a nearby volcano thousands of years ago.
The system consists of three lava-tube passages separated by two collapses and measures 4,859 feet in length, making it the largest surveyed cave system in Saudi Arabia and the longest lava-tube system in the entire Arabian Peninsula.
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