Gorham's Cave
Gorham's Cave | |
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Map showing location of Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar | |
Location | Southeast face of the Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar |
Coordinates | 36°07′13″N 5°20′31″W / 36.120397°N 5.342075°W |
Depth | 18 metres (59 ft) |
Discovery | 1907 |
Geology | Limestone |
2016 (40th session) | |
Reference no. | 1500 |
Region | Europe |
Gorham's Cave (
It is located at Governor's Beach on the southeastern face of the Rock of Gibraltar. When first inhabited some 55,000 years ago, it would have been approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) from the shore, but, due to changes in sea level, it is now only a few metres from the Mediterranean Sea.
Discovery
The cave is named after
Description
Gorham's Cave is a cave situated on the east side of Gibraltar a few meters above sea level[3] which has formed in Jurassic limestone. Total length of this cave is approximately 100 m (330 ft) and at the entrance it is approximately 35 m (115 ft) high. Further inside the cave becomes narrower and turns per approximately 90 degrees. From the entrance of cave opens a view on the Alboran Sea. It is possible that during further research the cave will become longer.
Archaeology
Discovery and early work
Gorham's Cave has been a site of archaeological interest since its importance was first recognised. The beach below the cave (Governor's Beach) had been inaccessible from the cliffs above; however, after one episode of a tunnelling project in the rock, the beach and cave became accessible due to the pile of spoil that was created.[4]
Royal Engineers Keighley and Ward were the first[when?] to report artefacts of archaeological interest in the cave via the Gibraltar newspapers. They had found pottery and stone tools. Moreover, they reported that human and animal remains had been discovered in Gorham's cave. Rev. F. E. Brown of the Gibraltar Society reported these findings to the governor of Gibraltar who requested further investigations after a site visit. These investigations were reported to the British Museum for their deliberation.[4]
In 1945, the governor wrote to the British Museum requesting that they continue further explorations of the cave. The museum had no resources, however, so they forwarded his enquiry to
In September 2021, archaeologists from the Gibraltar National Museum led by Prof Clive Finlayson announced the discovery of a 40,000 year-old Neanderthal cave chamber in the Gorham's Cave Complex, including a carving that may have been early Neanderthal artwork.[6][7]
Periods, dates, human species
Excavation of this site has resulted in the discovery of four layers of stratigraphy, one below the other:
- Level I has produced evidence for eighth to third centuries BC use by Phoenicians.
- Level II produced evidence for brief Neolithic use.
- Level III has yielded at least 240 Upper Paleolithic artefacts of Magdalenian and Solutrean origin.
- Level IV has produced 103 items, including spear-points, knives, and scraping devices that are identified as Mousterian, and shows repeated use over thousands of years.
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating gives dates for level IV of between 33 and 23 thousand years before the present (kyr BP)—the researchers felt that the uncertainties at this time depth made calibration impractical. They suggest occupation until at least 28 kyr BP and possibly 24 kyr BP.[8]
No fossil remains have been found that would allow identification pointing to either
Scratched floor
In July 2012, the floor of the cave[
The attribution of the scratches to Neanderthals is disputed. Matt Pope of University College London cautions that "linking them directly to Neanderthal populations, or proving Neanderthals made them without any contact with modern humans is harder. The dates were indirectly obtained and refer to the material from within sediments covering the scratches and not the marks themselves. Given the dates also span a period when we know modern humans have reached Europe, a period where we have unresolved 'transitional' archaeological evidence difficult to attribute to either population, I'd be cautious in accepting Neanderthal authorship."[12] Harold Dibble of the University of Pennsylvania also questioned the accuracy of the dating. He suggests that the scratches could have been made by modern humans and subsequently been covered by older sediments shifting within the cave.[13]
Nevertheless, it has been described as "abstract art" by Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal of the University of Huelva, for whom it is "the first directly demonstrable example of an abstract work, carried out consistently and with care and requiring prolonged and concentrated work, that has been produced in a cave."[14] He claims that "creating paintings or carvings in caves is seen as a cognitive step in human development. This behaviour was considered exclusive to modern humans and has been used as an argument to distinguish our direct ancestors from ancient man, including Neanderthals."[14] The issue of the artistic abilities of Neanderthals has been a long-running topic of controversy. Other alleged examples of Neanderthal art have been found in other caves in Europe, including motifs in Spain, and possible "jewellery" in France.
The team researching the Gorham's Cave scratches sought to determine whether it might have been produced accidentally, for example as a by-product of using the rock as a surface for cutting meat or fur. They carried out experiments with tools similar to those that would have been available at the time to carve grooves into blocks of similar dolomite rock, to identify how the scratches might have been made. They decided that the lines were most likely created by using a pointed tool or cutting edge to scrape repeatedly along, and deepen, an existing groove, taking as many as 300 strokes and requiring at least an hour's work. In addition, the scratches are in what would have been a very visible location and would have been immediately noticeable to anyone entering the cave.[12]
Those who claim it has symbolic meaning cannot explain what it would have meant.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Gorham's Cave gives its name to the Gorham's Cave complex, which is a grouping of four distinct caves of such importance that they are combined into a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The three other caves are the nearby Vanguard Cave, the Hyaena Cave, and Bennett's Cave.[1]
In November 2010, the Gorham's Cave complex was put forward to compete for a nomination as a
The ownership of land associated with Gorham's Cave was passed from the UK Ministry of Defence to the government of Gibraltar in 2011. The agreement swapped this MOD land and more than 300 MOD houses with the government of Gibraltar, who in exchange agreed to build 90 new houses on remaining MOD land.[17]
In May 2012 Gorham's Cave complex was on the short list of two sites, along with the
Fauna
The Gorham's Cave Complex is home to various species of bat, among them the European free-tailed bat.[19]
The cave complex also forms the largest wintering roost of Eurasian crag martins in the world, peaking at 12,000 birds in the 2020-2021 winter season, making up 1-2% of the entire European population of this species.[20]
See also
References
- ^ a b Gorham's Cave Complex, UNESCO tentative sites list. Retrieved 4 August 2014
- ^ Gibraltar Museum. Archived from the originalon 21 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-9926336-7-7. Archived from the originalon April 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c "The Cave That Time Forgot". Visit Gibraltar (10): 3. June 2001.
- ^ J. d'A. Waechter: "Excavations at Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar", Paper no. 3. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1951.
- ^ Jeevan Ravindran (30 September 2021). "Cave chamber closed for 40,000 years could hold the key to the lives of Neanderthals". CNN. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ Owen Jarus (2021-09-29). "Secret cave chamber may be one of the last Neanderthal hideouts". livescience.com. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- S2CID 4411186. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-08-27.
- PMID 10377462.
- ^ Location diagrams at Anthropologynet and BBC News
- ^ Vergano, Dan (1 September 2014). "Newly Discovered Engraving May Revise Picture of Neanderthal Intelligence". National Geographic. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d Rincon, Paul (1 September 2014). "Neanderthal 'artwork' found in Gibraltar cave". BBC News. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b Callaway, Ewen (1 September 2014). "Neanderthals made some of Europe's oldest art". Nature. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b Burgen, Stephen (2 September 2014). "Neanderthal abstract art found in Gibraltar cave". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ "UK Tentative List of Potential Sites for World Heritage Nomination: Application form" (PDF). UK Government. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ^ Government Seek World Heritage Status for Gorham's Cave Archived 2011-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, Gibraltar Chronicle, 8 November 2010.
- ^ "Government announces details of the recent Lands Agreement with MOD". 29 July 2011. Government of Gibraltar. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Gorham's Cave Short-Listed, BBC News, 28 May 2012
- ^ "Gorham's Cave Complex Reveals An Elusive Species". 2015-08-05. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- PMID 34413328.
External links
- Alfano S Did Neanderthals Last Longer? CBS News, 13 Sep 2006
- Rock art found in Gorham's Cave. (in Spanish)
- History of Gorham's Cave from Gibraltar Museum website
- Current information on Gorham's Cave from the Gibraltar Museum website.
- Stringer CB, Finlayson JC, Barton RN, et al. (September 2008). "Neanderthal exploitation of marine mammals in Gibraltar". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105 (38): 14319–24. PMID 18809913.
- Rodriguez-Vidal, J.; d'Errico, F.; Giles Pacheco, F.; Blasco, R.; Rosell, J.; Jennings, R.P.; Queffelec, A.; Finlayson, G.; Fa, D.A.; Gutierrez Lopez, J.M.; Carrion, J. S.; Negro, J.J.; Finlayson, S.; Caceres, L.M.; Bernal, M.A.; Fernandez Jimenez, S.; Finlayson, C. (2014). "A rock engraving made by Neanderthals in Gibraltar". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (37): 13301–06. PMID 25197076.