40,000-year-old sealed cavern in Gibraltar gives new insight into Neanderthal life

• Author: SHIRA SILKOFF
• Published date: 02 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Vanguard Cave is one of four caves that make up the famous Rock of Gibraltar, with the other three being Bennett's Cave, Gorham's Cave, and Hyaena Cave. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the caves provide evidence of Neanderthal life existing in the location for over 100,000 years.

The caves have provided large amounts of evidence relating to how Neanderthals lived, UNESCO said, including "rare evidence of exploitation of birds and marine animals for food; and use of bird feathers and abstract rock engravings," all of which have allowed scientists to piece together a clearer image of the Neanderthal species, and their cognitive abilities.

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While most of what is known today about the species which once inhabited the area has been garnered from the excavation of Gorham's Cave, researchers have now turned their attention to the smaller, unexplored, Vanguard Cave.

The Gibraltar National Museum announced the discovery of the 40,000-year-old sealed chamber on September 24 via their website, stating that the discovery was a culmination of nine years of work, after a project was started in 2012 to determine if the sea rock's Vanguard Cave was home to passages or chambers which had been blocked up by sediment over time.

And, just as the research team had predicted, a large sealed chamber was discovered at the very back of Vanguard Cave by chief scientist and curator of the Gibraltar National Museum, Clive Finlayson and his team. Preliminary investigations into the chamber have revealed a 13-meter deep space along the back of the cave, the museum reported.

Initial research into the cavernous space has resulted in several important discoveries, including lynx, hyaena, and griffon vulture remains. A number of scratch marks were visible on the cave walls, left there by an unknown carnivore tens of thousands of years ago.

Speaking to CNN, however, Finlayson said that none of these were the most impressive discovery made. Instead, he said, what has most excited the team of researchers was a large marine mollusk found...