Dig in neanderthal cave in Gibralter

I just discovered Clive Finlayson's blog about his work on a neanderthal cave on the island of Gibraltar.

We've just started our summer excavation season here in Gibraltar. In June we will be excavating Vanguard Cave. This cave was occupied by the Neanderthals. We're not sure for how long just yet - that's part of the reason why we're excavating here. Vanguard Cave lies just at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, at the base of a 426-metre (1492 ft) cliff. Logistics are a problem and sometimes it is easier to transport heavy kit by boat than bringing it down the cliffs. Today we had to set up a sieving station and we had to get two 100-kg containers onto the site. These were brought by boat but the rocky shore prevented the boat from getting in too close.[/exclivehumanevo.blogspot.com...

Wow! What a life.

reply to post by punkinworks10


This is awesome! Gibralter where Hercules smashed the opening to the Ocean... Where they've found countless offering paying respects to Hercules prior to crossing Gibralter!~

This is gonna be cool

cool! it will be interesting to see if they find red ochre burials.

This is among the last neandertal strongholds. Where they amassed as they became extinct. I would expect to see some significant layered deposits.

And, as already mentioned....this is already a legendary place in human folklore. Very interesting.

reply to post by LeLeu


They just might, can't wait for more info.
What's funny is that old world archeologists implicitly take the presence of red ochre as a sign of human presence, while their new world counterparts will vehemently argue against it as a sign of early occupation, as at calico hills, and a couple of other sites where red ochre is not found naturally.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


And I believe there was a homo erectus presence on Gibraltar as well.

I wonder if it is the same cave or site.

Originally posted by punkinworks10
reply to post by LeLeu

 

They just might, can't wait for more info.
What's funny is that old world archeologists implicitly take the presence of red ochre as a sign of human presence, while their new world counterparts will vehemently argue against it as a sign of early occupation, as at calico hills, and a couple of other sites where red ochre is not found naturally.

Yeah right!
It has always interested me how wide spread red ochre was used for burials. I wonder if Neanderthal and early Homo Sapien cultures influenced each other or did it come from a common ancestor such as Homo Heidelbergensis or perhaps Homo Erectus. Maybe red ochre replaced canabalism after death.

reply to post by LeLeu


Yes,
The use of red ochre appears to start with homo h, in Spain some 400k years ago, which begs the question did it start with an earlier species.

reply to post by punkinworks10


hey dudes

Good place Gibraltar, I don't remember nor did I find any mentionof HE being found at the rock, but certain HN has been.

reply to post by Hanslune


Hey there Hans,
I seem to remember a He reference from sonewhere, I'll try to find it.