Have you ever heard about Gorham's Cave?
It is located in Gibraltar - Wiki link to learn more about location.
Apparently researchers have acquired around 30 radiocarbon-dates from Neanderthal occupation of the Cave - and after data-grouping, found that Neanderthals were living in the Cave about 25,000 yrs ago...
Yeah, big deal, right?.. Well, according to this info - Neanderthals were around 5,000 more years than they were previously thought - they were supposed to be already long gone from the World by this time... Yeah, it could be a big deal!
So - what gives researchers this idea? Well, to put it simply - we have to look at how archaeological sites are formed...
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An archaeological site's soil stratigraphy
Layer C = oldest
Layer A = recent |
One of the questions people most frequently ask archaeologists is "How do artifacts (or foundations, walkways, etc.) become buried so far underground?"
The answer is not that the artifacts sink, but that the ground builds up in layers, or strata, over time. In looking at the cross section to the right, the soil resembles a layer cake, with the oldest layers on the bottom - Layer C - and more recent deposits on top - Layer A. The accumulated layers of soil are the site's stratigraphy.
The accumulation of soil is a natural process that results from the disintegration of organic material such as grass and leaves, and the deposit of blowing dust. Cultural activities also play a role in creating soil layers. Household waste such as ashes from kitchen fires, food remains, and broken glass and ceramics contribute to the accumulation of stratigraphic layers. Activities that move earth around, such as the construction of a cellar hole, have a significant effect on a property's stratification, quickly adding many feet of fill dirt. The more activity that has occurred on a property, the greater the soil accumulation is likely to be.
But, why is stratigraphy important? Soil layers are the most basic tools available for measuring the passing of time because the deepest layers of soil are older than the layers on top. For this reason, archaeologists excavate stratigraphically, or one layer at a time, removing all soil from one time period before excavating the layers that preceded it..
So, to find out that Neanderthals were there - the researcher's id'd the layers and found that in addition to Phoenician, Carthegenian and Neolithic occupations in the cave, there are 16 meters of Pleistocene deposits.
The top part of the Pleistocene consists of two Upper Paleolithic deposits, identified as Solutrean and Magdelenian and used by what archaeologists now call Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH).
Below that, and reported to be separated by five thousand years is a level of pure Mousterian, and, according to the latest AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) Radiocarbon Dates, was occupied between 23,000 and 33,000 years ago.
What does the term Mousterian Occupations at Gorham's Cave mean?
Well, Mousterian is the name given to a lithic industry that in Europe is always associated with Neanderthals!
Wouldn't you say Gorham's Cave would be a place to keep an eye on? Yeah, so would I...
To view a video and read more about this - click:
Gorham's Cave and Neanderthals
