The Gibraltar Neanderthal Skull was found 8 years before the one at Neander Valley, near Dusseldorf. The director of the Gibraltar Museum, Dr Clive Finlayson, outlined the accidental discovery of the skull in 1848, by a Lieutenant Flint, whose men were preparing an artillery battery in old Forbes quarry. The skull’s presentation to the Gibraltar Scientific Society and its subsequent relegation to a drawer, came into sharp focus some eight years later with the identification of a similar skull at a quarry in Neander Valley near Dusseldorf. Thus, what might have been Gibraltar man (or woman as it turned out) became Neanderthal Man.

Recent studies suggest that Gibraltar may have been the last bastion of ‘Neanderthal Man’ before they disappeared from the face of the earth.

The skulls have a number of characteristics, which distinguish them from other early humanoids. The forehead slopes backwards joining a cranial vault that is noticeably flatter – less dome shaped – than a modern human. The brow ridges above the eye sockets are very prominent and the face has the appearance of having carried a rather large nose. A Neanderthal chin was smallish, a receding chin in modern parlance and a rear of the skull had a bulge, in the occipital region. Despite the lower cranium, the bulge allowed a cranial capacity of around 150cc, exceeding that of average modern humans.

If his skull was so distinctive, then what was the rest of the Neanderthal’s body like? Fossil remains indicate an average height of 5’9” for males and 5’3” for females. This small degree of sexual dimorphism is a relatively modern hominid feature. The body form was quite stocky – short limbs with robust bones and generally thick – bodied. This is typically endomorphic body, designed to retain heat and function well in a cold environment.

The Neanderthals needed to be well adapted to the cold as they lived during the last Ice Age – periods of freezing conditions interspersed with warmer interglacial periods. It is believed that Neanderthals may have been driven south as glaciers advanced across Europe and moved north again as glaciation receded.

Certainly during cold periods a great deal of water would have been locked up in polar ice caps and sea levels around the world would have been much lower than today. Gibraltar’s eastern coastal caves – now at sea level – would have looked out over a wide expanse of sandy plain. Neanderthal inhabitants of Gorham’s or Vanguard would have hunted elk, ibex, auroch and wild pig. The fact that these are dangerous animals suggests a fairly high degree of co-operation between individuals and perhaps a better ability to communicate than was previously believed.

A high degree of skill was required for the manufacture of flint and cheroot tools. It may even have been on a production line basis – with individuals knocking out rough items, which were then finished by others.

Possibly the most interesting find at Gorham’s are examples of cave art and recently, pictures that were once barely discernible have been exposed, using infra-red light.

Among the more unusual finds at Gorham’s cave have been coprolites or fossilised faeces. This is not as unpleasant as it sounds. In fact it is quite exciting because it may allow the possibility of recovering some Neanderthal DNA.

If – and it’s a big if – part of the DNA chain can be identified it will be of enormous help in comparative studies of Neanderthals and HomoSapiens.