Bones are a key source of information about the past. A single bone (if complete) can often tell us the species it came from, the age and size of the animal, and whether it had any injuries or illnesses. We can even use lab techniques to reveal the animal’s sex, ancestry and diet. These techniques include extracting and analysing ancient DNA, studying ancient proteins (known as paleoproteomics) and using stable isotope analysis. 

Lynx bones have been found in 32 cave sites, showing that they once lived in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We tend to find their bones in limestone caves. This doesn’t mean that the animals only lived in these areas, or that that’s what they preferred – bones just preserve well in caves, so we’re more likely to find them there. 

Their bones are never abundant – most sites only have one or two – but some have almost complete skeletons. These are likely to be animals that died in places that were difficult for other cave dwellers and scavengers to reach. Otherwise, the bones would have been scattered and many would have been lost. The most likely explanation for these is that they represent lynx that were exploring and became trapped and died, leaving their skeletons to be found by cavers and archaeologists hundreds to thousands of years later. This is tragic for those lynx, but brilliant evidence for archaeologists who are now trying to piece together their lives and stories.

A history of living with lynx 

Radiocarbon dating of lynx bones shows us that they arrived in Britain around 15,000 years ago, once the ice had retreated, with the earliest (so far) being found in Gough’s Cave in Somerset. At this time, human hunter-gatherers were also returning to Britain, using stone tools and living off the land. Britain was still just a peninsula on the edge of Europe, as lower sea levels resulted in the English Channel and much of the North Sea being dry land with rivers running through them. This land bridge meant that people, lynx, and other animals such as brown bears were able to move back and forth, dispersing as and when needed.  

But some 9,000 years ago, this all changed. Sea levels rose and the North Sea and English Channel had slowly flooded, cutting off the human and animal populations in Britain from the rest of Europe. Lynx in this period – the Mesolithic – would have been living alongside people, the brown bear, wild boar, beaver and wolf – a very different fauna to today.  

Skip forward a few thousand years and we find lynx still living in Britain, particularly in upland areas such as the Yorkshire Dales. The latest lynx come from near Settle and are dated to the early medieval period (some 1,500 years ago). Huge changes had happened to the landscape since the Mesolithic. People had formed settlements and farming was now a way of life. Land and forests had been cleared for crops and domestic animals such as cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. All of this required space, and that meant there was less suitable habitat for lynx. 

Lynx are also very shy. They are likely to have avoided areas of intense human activity. In this way, they were able to co-exist with people for thousands of years. Yet in all that time there is almost no evidence – only one cut-marked bone – to show any direct interaction between lynx and humans in Britain. This is a stark contrast to Scandinavia, where lynx claws (likely representing skins) are found in medieval human graves. This lack of interaction in Britain suggests that lynx and people did not often encounter each other, and perhaps that lynx always lived at a low density so it wasn’t worth hunting them when other fur-bearing animals (such as beaver) were easier to find.  

Lost lynx 

Lynx likely became extinct in Britain in the medieval period. Romans would have known them in the landscape, but in the early 1100s the chronicler William of Malmesbury listed them alongside lions, leopards and camels as ‘animals which England does not produce’.  

In summary, there is still much for us to learn about our lost lynx, and new sites with their bones are still being discovered. It’s exciting to wonder what they might reveal in the future.