It’s amazing what they found in a 40,000-year-old cave – News

A recent discovery made in a network of caves, which remained hidden for more than 40,000 years on the rock of Gibraltar, could bring new discoveries on the customs of the Neanderthals.

The network was first discovered in 2012, when experts began examining Vanguard Cave, part of the Gorham Cave complex, to determine its true dimensions.

However, last August, the team, led by evolutionary biologist Clive Finlayson, found a hole in the sediment, which led to a 13-meter hole in the cave ceiling.

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“It’s quite a camera,” Finlayson told British media. The Guardian. “In a way, it’s almost like discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb; You are entering a space that no one has entered for 40,000 years. It’s quite sobering, really, ”he explained.

On the surface of the chamber were the leg bones of a lynx, the vertebrae of a spotted hyena, and the large wing bone of a griffon vulture. “Something dragged things out there a long time ago,” Finlayson said.

“We also found six or seven examples of claw marks carved on the walls of the cave. These kind of claw marks are normally associated with bears, and we have bear remains in the cave, but they look a bit small to me. I wonder if the lynx whose femur we found was scratching the walls, ”he added.

While the bones are not interesting on their own, since they did not have any cuts or marks consistent with human intervention, the team also found a large shell of a dog whale (a sea snail) that lifts several possibilities.

“This part of the cave is probably 20 meters above sea level today, so it is clear that someone brought it there some time before 40,000 years ago,” said the professor. “It’s already an indication that people have been there,” said the biologist.

It was also discovered in other places in the caves that there was Neanderthal occupation in the area: from stone houses and tools to the remains of dismembered animals, including red deer, ibex, seals and Dolphins. In 2017, researchers even found the baby tooth of a four-year-old Neanderthal boy.

“One of the things that we have found on many levels in this cave is clear evidence of occupation: bonfires etc. What we didn’t find is where they buried theirs. Since we are speculating, a camera deep in a cave might be quite suggestive; It’s total speculation, but you’re not going to bury people in your kitchen or living room, ”he said.

“These caves have given us a lot of information about the behavior of these people. And, far from the old view of raw and simian beings, we realize that in all respects they were human and capable of most of the things modern humans were capable of. We even know that they have exchanged genes, “he told British media.

For the professor, the real quest is to find out who the Neanderthals were, how they lived, how they died, and how they survived. Additionally, he revealed how it might affect our understanding of humanity: “I am proud to say that I took my test and have a double comma of Neanderthal DNA in me. You could say they never died out because there is still a bit of it in us, ”Finlayson concluded.