Siberian Bronze Ring May Have Adorned Bear Claw

SALEKHARD, SIBERIA—A 2,000-year-old bronze ring, with a diameter so tiny that a human would be unable to wear it, has been unearthed at the ancient spiritual center of Ust-Polui. “We concluded that it was used in a ritual connected with a bear cult and was put on the bear claw,” said Alexander Korchagin, a student at Novosibirsk State University. The scientists think that after a bear was killed, its head and front paws may have been removed and decorated to honor its memory in the sanctuary.