The Big Dig Theories

by Sophie Ruijs (age 13 years).

To the north of Catalonia at Besalú near Girona, there is a limestone quarry with large mounds of mud that had once filled hollows (or dolines) in the rock. In these mud mounds, prehistoric dung, snail shells and sabre-tooth tiger bones were found. Normally the predator-prey ratio is 1:20, but the sabre-tooth tiger bones found in the mud indicate a much larger ratio of predator to prey. Some bones were very well preserved, but some were crushed or had gnaw marks.

To make a long story short, how did all the bones get there? Archaeologists have made up three theories, but which one is correct?

The Educational Comic Strip below illustrates the three theories.

Death Trap Theory   Wash-In Theory   Den Theory