Gorham's Cave chamber sealed for 40,000 years reveals artefacts linked to Neanderthals

Archaeologists opened a chamber at Gorham's Cave on the Rock of Gibraltar that had been sealed for about 40,000 years and exposed a concentration of artefacts associated with Neanderthal activity.

Archaeologists opened a chamber in Gorham's Cave on the Rock of Gibraltar that had been sealed for about 40,000 years. The chamber was found during an excavation of the cave network at Governor's Beach. The discovery included a concentration of artefacts and deposits that researchers link to Neanderthal activity. Gorham's Cave is already noted for material that UNESCO says has contributed to debates about Neanderthal and human evolution. Key findings: - The chamber had been sealed for around 40,000 years according to excavation reports. - The discovery occurred during ongoing excavations of Gorham's Cave at Governor's Beach on the Rock of Gibraltar. - No Neanderthal skeletons were reported inside the new chamber, but the site contains artefacts and deposits interpreted as evidence of Neanderthal presence. - UNESCO records from the site include evidence of hunting of birds and marine animals, the use of feathers for ornamentation, and abstract rock engravings. - In 2024 researchers reported finding a roughly 60,000-year-old hearth interpreted as a birch-tar (glue-making) feature in the cave sequence. - Gibraltar National Museum director Clive Finlayson has described scratch marks from an unidentified carnivore and the presence of a whelk found deep in the cave, which he said indicate human activity over 40,000 years ago. Summary: The newly opened chamber adds to the long record of Neanderthal-related deposits at Gorham's Cave and could expand understanding of how people used coastal environments in the Late Pleistocene. Excavations are ongoing and researchers have said the exposed space may extend further as they continue to dig.