The final resting place of the last Neanderthals may have been unearthed by fossil-hunters excavating deep inside a cave in Gibraltar. Primitive stone tools and remnants from wood fires recovered from the vast Gorham’s cave on the easternmost face of the Rock suggest Neanderthals found refuge there, and clung to life for thousands of years after they had died out elsewhere.
Carbon dating of charcoal fragments excavated alongside spear points and basic cutting tools indicates the cave was home to a group of about 15 Neanderthals at least 28 000 years ago, and possibly as recently as 24 000 years ago. Previously uncovered remains led scientists to believe the Neanderthals died out in Europe and elsewhere about 35 000 years ago.
The discovery marks more clearly than ever the time of death of our closest relative, and completes one of the most dramatic chapters in human evolution.
It throws into doubt the theory that the arrival of modern humans was solely responsible for the demise of the Neanderthals, by outcompeting them for food or even engaging in the earliest acts of genocide. More likely, the Neanderthals were already struggling to adapt to rapid changes in crucial food resources such as vegetation and wild animals.
Modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor, Homo heidelbergensis, about 500 000 years ago when the power of fire was first harnessed.
From a foothold north of the Mediterranean, Homo heidelbergensis steadily evolved into the Neanderthals, while in Africa, the same species embarked on a different evolutionary path, one that ultimately gave rise to modern-day Homo sapiens. Remains of Neanderthals dating back as far as 400 000 years suggest a reasonably sophisticated species that crafted hand tools and buried its dead.
The stone tools unearthed from Gorham’s cave were discovered 2,5m beneath the soil towards the back of the 40m-long cave where the Neanderthals had created a hearth. The collection includes basic knife edges used for butchering carcasses and scraping tools for working skins and hides, according to the journal Nature.
Many of the tools were preserved impeccably. ”I saw one flake and went to touch it, knowing it was a tool left by a Neanderthal, and it drew blood,” said Finlayson. Gorham’s cave is likely to yield yet more insights into the life and death of the Neanderthal. The archaeologists have uncovered a low, narrow passageway at the rear of the cave that they discovered, by crawling along, stretches a further 30m back into the rock. They believe it may lead to another chamber, and speculate it may even be a burial site. — Â