The pile-dwelling of Molina di Ledro, in Trentino, discovered in 1929, has been dated to between the Early and the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200-1550 BC). Faunal remains include bones of various animal species, both bred (oxen, goats, sheep and pigs) and hunted (deer, wild boars, roe deer and foxes). These skulls of two small adult brown bears (Ursus arctos) show signs of butchery and drilling to remove the brain: their use in ritual practices cannot be ruled out as the site also contained tusks and two penile bones from cave bears (U. spaelaeus), a species that was already extinct at that time.
