Big cats, including sabre-toothed cats, are for many people the symbol of a dangerous predator. In 2012, the first remains of the European sabre-toothed cats were discovered at the approximately 300,000 year old site of Schöningen, famous for mankind’s oldest wooden weapons. As a result of this discovery, a two-day scientific workshop was held in Schöningen in 2015 titled »The Homotherium finds from Schöningen 13II-4 and big cats of the Ice Age«. This volume is based on the lectures of this workshop and presents an overview of a topic that is crucial for human development, our coexistence with big cats. The aim of this volume is to address the various topics surrounding the European sabre-toothed cat. This includes the circumstances of their extinction, comparisons to extant big cats and their relationship to past humans.