In addition to bears, a suite of boreal mammals and birds typical of the Uinta Mountains was found. The bones were coated with wet clay, and some were heavily gnawed by rodents. Several artifacts have been recovered from Porcupine Cave. Some charred, water-soaked wood was also found in the soil. In 1987 I collected additional bones of the grizzly bear in the Bear's Den including skull fragments and an assortment of postcranial elements.
Rock fall appears to have damaged some bones and buried others.
Dripping water kept these bones wet and deposited calcite on some, and some are heavily gnawed by rodents. The Porcupine Cave specimen represents the first fossil grizzly to be recovered from Utah. There is no evidence that humans were associated with this fossil grizzly. The cave entrance at present is too small to admit bears, but if the fill was removed the passage would be sufficiently large. Thanks are extended to Julia S. Heaton for helping collect and catalog the collection, Dale J. Green for providing information about the cave's discovery, Asa Nielson and Mike Hall for investigating the archaeology, the University of Utah for loaning their material, and the National Speleological Society for funding the C-14 dates.