Gorham's Cave (Spanish: Cueva de Gorham, pronounced [ɡoˈɾam]) is a cave at sea level in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Even though it is not a sea cave, it is often mistaken for one. It is considered one of the last known places where Neanderthals lived in Europe. The cave is named after the Gorham's Cave complex, which includes four separate caves so important that they are grouped together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the only UNESCO site in Gibraltar. The other three caves are Vanguard Cave, Hyaena Cave, and Bennett's Cave.

Gorham's Cave is located at Governor's Beach on the southeastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar. When people first lived there about 55,000 years ago, the cave was approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) from the shore. However, because sea levels have changed over time, the cave is now only a few meters from the Mediterranean Sea.

Discovery

The cave is named after Captain A. Gorham of the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers, who found it in 1907 while exploring a crack near the back of a sea cave. Gorham wrote his name and the date of his discovery in lamp-black on the cave wall, and the cave has been called by his name ever since. After this discovery, the cave appears to have been forgotten officially, as Gibraltarian historian and cave explorer George Palao remembers seeing an inscription on the cave wall that said "J. J. Davies 1943."

Description

Gorham's Cave is located on the east side of Gibraltar, a few meters above sea level. It was formed in Jurassic limestone. The total length of the cave is about 100 meters (330 feet), and the entrance is approximately 35 meters (115 feet) high. Further inside, the cave becomes narrower and turns about 90 degrees. From the entrance, the view shows the Alboran Sea. Future research may reveal that the cave is longer than currently known.

Archaeology

Gorham's Cave has been important for archaeologists since its significance was first recognized. The beach below the cave, called Governor's Beach, was once difficult to reach from the cliffs above. However, after a rock tunneling project created a pile of rock and dirt, the beach and cave became accessible.

Royal Engineers Keighley and Ward were the first to report finding artifacts of interest in the cave through Gibraltar newspapers. They discovered pottery and stone tools. They also reported that human and animal remains were found in Gorham's Cave. Rev. F. E. Brown of the Gibraltar Society shared these findings with the governor of Gibraltar. The governor asked for more investigations after visiting the site. These investigations were sent to the British Museum for review.

Lieutenant George Baker Alexander, a Royal Engineer and graduate geologist from the University of Cambridge, arrived in Gibraltar in 1945. He made a geological survey of Gibraltar, creating a detailed geological map. Alexander was the first to excavate Gorham’s Cave. However, he left Gibraltar in 1948 after the Gibraltar Museum criticized his methods. No preserved materials from these excavations remain.

In 1945, the governor wrote to the British Museum, asking them to continue exploring the cave. The museum had no resources and sent the request to Professor Dorothy Garrod at Cambridge. Garrod had previously found a Neanderthal skull at Devil's Tower Cave in Gibraltar during the 1920s. She asked Dr. John d'Arcy Waechter, a fellow at the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, for help. Waechter arrived in September 1948 and dug test pits to check if more excavation was needed. His work led to a return in June 1950. He went back to England in 1951 without finishing the work and returned from February to July 1952. During a final visit in 1954, he successfully asked the local government for money to complete his work.

In September 2021, archaeologists from the Gibraltar National Museum, led by Prof. Clive Finlayson, announced the discovery of a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal cave chamber in the Gorham's Cave Complex. This included a carving that may have been early Neanderthal artwork.

Excavation of the site revealed four layers of rock, one stacked on top of the other:

• Level I shows evidence of use by Phoenicians from the 8th to 3rd centuries BC.
• Level II shows evidence of brief Neolithic use.
• Level III has at least 240 Upper Paleolithic artifacts from the Magdalenian and Solutrean periods.
• Level IV has 103 items, including spear-points, knives, and scraping tools identified as Mousterian, showing repeated use over thousands of years.

A special dating method called Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) gave dates for Level IV between 33 and 23 thousand years before the present (kyr BP). Researchers noted that uncertainties at this time depth made calibration impractical. They suggest the area was occupied until at least 28 kyr BP and possibly 24 kyr BP.

No fossil remains have been found to identify whether Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans lived there. This is despite findings of a modern human in a nearby site in Portugal, dated to 24,500 years ago, who may have had Neanderthal genetic traits. However, Mousterian culture is usually linked to Neanderthals in Europe.

In July 2012, the floor of the cave was found to have deep scratches. Researchers discovered a series of criss-crossing lines on a ledge about 100 meters from the entrance. The scratches consist of eight lines in two groups of three long lines and two shorter ones, suggesting it might be a symbol. The scratches are at least 39,000 years old, as they were found below a layer of undisturbed sediment of that age, where hundreds of Neanderthal stone tools were found.

Some scientists question whether Neanderthals made the scratches. Matt Pope of University College London says linking the scratches directly to Neanderthals or proving they were made without modern human contact is difficult. He notes the dates refer to sediment covering the scratches, not the marks themselves. Harold Dibble of the University of Pennsylvania also questions the dating accuracy, suggesting the scratches could have been made by modern humans and later covered by older sediments.

However, Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal of the University of Huelva describes the scratches as "abstract art." He says it is the first directly proven example of abstract work made with care and effort, requiring prolonged work. He claims that creating art in caves is a cognitive step in human development, often seen as a trait of modern humans. The ability of Neanderthals to create art has long been debated. Other examples of possible Neanderthal art have been found in caves in Europe, including motifs in Spain and possible "jewellery" in France.

The team studying the Gorham's Cave scratches tested whether they might have been made accidentally, such as by using the rock as a surface for cutting meat or fur. They experimented with tools similar to those from the time to carve grooves into blocks of similar dolomite rock. They concluded the lines were likely made by using a pointed tool or cutting edge to scrape and deepen an existing groove, requiring up to 300 strokes and at least an hour of work. The scratches are in a highly visible location, likely noticeable to anyone entering the cave.

Those who believe the scratches have symbolic meaning cannot explain their purpose. Clive Finlayson of the Gibraltar Museum notes the engraving is at a point in the cave where the direction changes by 90 degrees, suggesting it might relate to mapping or indicating a location. Francesco d

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Gorham's Cave is named after the Gorham's Cave complex, which includes four separate caves. These caves are so important that they are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The other three caves in the complex are Vanguard Cave, Hyaena Cave, and Bennett's Cave.

In November 2010, the Gorham's Cave complex was nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Professor Clive Finlayson, who leads the Gibraltar Museum, helped organize the effort to get this nomination. The first step was to submit a proposal to the United Kingdom’s cultural authorities to add Gorham's Cave complex to the UK’s World Heritage tentative list. This list is updated every ten years, and the process for a new list was happening at the time of the submission.

In 2011, ownership of the land around Gorham's Cave was transferred from the UK Ministry of Defence to the government of Gibraltar. This agreement involved exchanging MOD land and over 300 MOD houses with Gibraltar. In return, Gibraltar agreed to build 90 new homes on remaining MOD land.

In May 2012, Gorham's Cave complex was among two sites, including the Forth Rail Bridge, that were selected for submission to UNESCO. On July 15, 2016, the site was officially added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is now Gibraltar’s only World Heritage site.

Fauna

The Gorham's Cave Complex is home to many types of bats, including the European free-tailed bat. The cave complex also serves as the largest wintering roost for Eurasian crag martins in the world. During the 2020-2021 winter season, the number of these birds reached as many as 12,000. This group makes up 1 to 2% of the entire European population of this species.