Gibraltar. Neanderthal research to bring more archaeological students from UK

Gorham cave

Eyleen Sheil. A new research collaboration agreement with the Gibraltar Museum and the Liverpool John Moores University will mean more archaeological students from UK will be able to work on the annual digs at Gorham’s and Vanguard caves. Making the announcement on site yesterday, Professor Clive Finlayson, together with senior lecturer from the university Dr Richard Jennings, said archaeological students will now have the opportunity to visit Gibraltar more frequently and both study and assist, in the work undertaken in the Neanderthal complex of caves.

Speaking to the media during this year’s visit to the site, Professor Finlayson, highlighted the latest artefacts discovered by the team dating back around 48,000 years ago including tools as well as evidence of shellfish being cooked by the Neanderthal’s in Vanguard’s Cave.

The reporters were also able to see at first hand the latest safety measures being introduced in order to access the area. Towards the middle of the month Gibraltar will know whether its ‘Gibraltar Neanderthal Caves and Environment’ bid for UNESCO World Heritage status has been successful. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meets in Istanbul as from next week... (Print) Gibraltar Chronicle



Related post (2015)


Actualización: Gorham’s Cave Neanderthal ‘Barbecue’ Revealed In Striking Detail
Picture the scene: around 48,000 years ago, a small group of Neanderthals sought refuge in Gorham’s Cave on the eastside of the Rock. With them, they brought the day’s kill: an Ibex.

They butchered the beast with sharp stone tools and placed chunks of meat on a small fire fuelled by wood and pine cones.

While they waited for the fire to get going, they sharpened their tools, ready for another hunt, another mammal carcass that needs carving. A later visit would see them feast on a rabbit. Welcome to the Neanderthal barbecue…

The traces left by such a scene – bones, flints and a clear layer of charcoal sediment – have now been unearthed in Gorham’s Cave at the start of the Gibraltar Museum’s dig season.

Professor Clive Finlayson says he is amazed by the how well preserved this latest find is, revealing a level of detail which is rarely encountered...