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<< News >> Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar)

Submitted by Thorgrim on Thursday, 19 February 2009  Page Views: 12647

Natural PlacesCountry: Spain Type: Cave or Rock Shelter

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Archaeologists working deep inside Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar have discovered a rare prehistoric painting, that could be up to 13,000 years old, of a deer. To the untrained eye it looks like a series of random scrawls on the cave wall. But with the help of the experts, the outline of an animal crowned with a distinctive set of antlers quickly becomes clearly discernible.

The discovery of the painting follows the previous find of cave art in St Michael’s Cave and highlights the wealth of archaeological remains in Gibraltar.
Alongside the painting, the archaeologists working in Gorham’s Cave have also made important Neanderthal finds during the past two weeks.
“The surprises seem to come one after another each year,” said Professor Clive Finlayson, director of the Gibraltar Museum and co-director of the excavation at Gorham’s Cave.
“What we have now in Gibraltar are eight caves where we know there has been Neanderthal occupation.”
“We also have a number of caves with occupation by modern people, of which at least two have cave art, which is of great heritage value in global terms.”
“This makes Gibraltar one of those unique places for the study of prehistory and for this rich heritage.”
“Certainly in terms of Neanderthal occupation sites, for a peninsula this size to have eight is unique in the world.”
“There is no other place like that,” he concluded.
Of the recent discoveries at Gorham’s Cave, the cave painting of the deer is perhaps the most significant.
From its style, the experts working in the cave can tell that it is an Upper Paleolithic painting from the Magdalenian period, making it approximately 12,000 to 13,000 years old.

Full report at http://www.chronicle.gi/.

Note: Biodiversity Hotspot Enabled Neanderthals To Survive Longer In S-East Of Spain. Finds in Gorham's Cave, Gilbraltar.

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"Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar)" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Re: Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar) by davidmorgan on Monday, 18 July 2016
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A UNESCO World Heritage site from 2016 - http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1500
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Gorham's Cave on Twitter by Andy B on Sunday, 22 February 2015
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The official @GibraltarMuseum Gorham's Cave Gibraltar page. Follow us for the latest on our excavations & anything Neanderthal!

https://twitter.com/GorhamsCave
http://gibmuseum.gi
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Re: Biodiversity Hotspot Enabled Neanderthals To Survive Longer In S-East Of Spain by Anonymous on Friday, 10 July 2009
Gibraltar Español
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Biodiversity Hotspot Enabled Neanderthals To Survive Longer In S-East Of Spain by bat400 on Thursday, 19 February 2009
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Submitted by coldrum ---
Over 14,000 years ago during the last Pleistocene Ice Age, when a large part of the European continent was covered in ice and snow, Neanderthals in the region of Gibraltar in the south of the Iberian peninsula were able to survive because of the refugium of plant and animal biodiversity. Today, plant fossil remains discovered in Gorham's Cave confirm this unique diversity and wealth of resources available in this area of the planet.

The international team jointly led by Spanish researchers has reconstructed the landscape near Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar, by means of paleobotanical data (plant fossil records) located in the geological deposits investigated between 1997 and 2004. The study also re-examines previous findings relating to the glacial refugia for trees during the ice age in the Iberian Peninsula.

"The reconstructed landscape shows a wide diversity of plant formations in the extreme south of the Iberian peninsula from 32,000 to 10,000 years ago," José S. Carrión explains. He is the principal author and researcher from the University of Murcia. The most significant finding amongst the steppe landscape is the presence of "plant elements indicative of a warm environment," states Carrión.

This research shows that the plant diversity discovered in the cave is "unique" in the context of the ice age that affected the entire European continent. The area of Gibraltar and the adjacent mountain ranges made up a "large refugium for plant and animal biodiversity during the coldest periods of the Pleistocene Ice Age" and made it possible for the Neanderthals to survive for 10,000 years longer than the rest of Europe.

The researchers suggest that the caves situated between the coasts of Malaga and Gibraltar "represent an area that favours the survival of a large diversity of environments." The analysis of the refugia in the Peninsula shows that there were many other places where trees provided a refugium, "but this never compared to the diversity of species in the south, south west and south east," emphasizes Carrión.

In Gibraltar, the Neanderthals could have had access to more than 140 caves, which provided them with a wealth of resources.
The existence of this biodiversity hotspot with a supply of plant and animal foodstuffs available "would explain the extraordinary endurance of the Neanderthals in the south west of Europe," emphasizes the researcher. On the other hand, the Neanderthals in the south of Europe had become adapted to surroundings that had semi forest vegetation, as well as fishing resources off the coast, which encouraged their survival.

The inhabitants of Gorham's Cave were omnivorous and ate land mammals (mountain goats, rabbits, quails, duck and pigeon) and marine foods (monk seals, dolphin, fish and mussels). They also ate plants and dried fruits such as those found in the cave that date from 40,000 years ago. They adapted easily to their environment and took advantage of what this provided.

The paleobotanical data collected by the researchers from the Museum of Gibraltar, the Catalonian Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, the Laboratory of Archaeobotany (CSIC), the University of Wales (United Kingdom), the University of York (United Kingdom), Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIS) and the University of Murcia, were obtained by studying carbon remains and fossilised pollen grains found in the packed sediment in the cave and in coprolites (fossilised faeces of animals) from hyenas and canids (wolves, jackals, foxes, etc).



For more, see Science Daily.
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A new country? by Anonymous on Wednesday, 24 May 2006
Where is Gorman's Cave and the rare painting - Gibralter? - is this a new country or just a spelling mistake?
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Re: country by MickM on Tuesday, 23 May 2006
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To the neanderthals & other early humans, the concept of Spanish, British etc would have been a totally alien idea. Judging from the evidence above, it was to them a very attractive piece of rock & would no doubt have been central to their world rather than periphery to someone else's. Perhaps we should designate Gibraltar as a seperate country (given it's apparently long, prehistoric tradition).
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Re: country by Anonymous on Tuesday, 23 May 2006
Gibraltar is not part of Spain
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