Brown bears are thought to have gone extinct from most of Britain around the year 500 (with some populations potentially surviving a few centuries more in Scotland), while the Roman occupation of the southern half of the island lasted approximately from 100 B.C. to 450 A.D. This means that Romans and bears cohabitated the island for centuries, and the empire could potentially have assisted in the local extinction of the species. So it isn’t surprising that bears feature prominently in a Roman funerary ritual from the former Britannia. At least…
