gibraltar caves project 2003

finds & updates

The first few days of any excavation are always slow on the finds front. In Gorham’s Cave this was no different. The first few days consisted of transporting equipment to the cave such as a generator to provide light, excavation tools, buckets, sieves etc. It was also necessary to set up infrastructures such as the pulley system and checking that the suspended grid system in place in the Cave had not slackened over the last year. The next couple of days were spent preparing surfaces for excavation and cleaning sections. All items found during this process were collected, but because they are all surface finds or were exposed as the result of section collapse or people or animals that might have been in the cave during the last year and might have accidentally stepped on something or burrowed through a section, the exact position of these finds was not recordable.

Thursday 7th August saw the discovery of a fossilized coprolite- or prehistoric excrement.

A Coprolite is the fossilized excrement of animals. Under the right conditions animal faeces have been fossilized (preserved) are called coprolites. Animal feces are mainly composed of soft faecal matter and sometimes have bone fragments, and are usually rarer than skeletal type fossils. Coprolites are mostly recognized by their shapes they can vary considerably in size and shapes colors and forms, coprolites can be flat pancake like shape, spherical spiral, a big blob, and others may contain bone fragments, some may be white, brown, black, and multiple colors. This particular coprolite was found in Vanguard Cave on Thursday 7th August as a result of the section cleaning being carried out there, and is most probably from a Hyaena, although it still remains to be studied. Coprolites do not usually smell, but this one was in a damp area and it definately has a whiff about it!

Why are coprolites important finds?

A coprolite can give us a great deal of information about the way the cave was used at a specific moment in time. For example, in the case of the presence of a hyena coprolite such as this one ,we can say that at this point in time there were probably no humans in the cave as hyaenas are fierce scavengers. Hyaenas live in African Savannah-like environments; the environment around Gorham’s Cave at the time was probably very hot and dry. The type of environment helps us to suggest what other types of animals might have been around and what the hyaenas might have been eating. This can sometimes also be deduced from the coprolite itself as occasionally fragments of bones or teeth from the hyaena’s last meal are also preserved in the coprolite and these can be identified.

Wednesday 13th August saw the discovery of a 350,000 year old cleaver.

The Cleaver was found on Wednesday and belongs to an industry known at the Acheulian which predates the Mousterian industry of the classic Neanderthals. Although this industry appears in southern Iberia it is usually associated with river beds and it is rare in cave sites. This is the first time this kind of industry is recognised from the Rock. The Acheulian is an industry associated to Homo heildelbergensis, an ancestral species of the Neanderthals.

What is so important about this find?
Not only is this the first Acheulian tool to be found in Gibraltar, but its form and type of material it is made out of is very similar to cleavers found by members of the Gorham's team in the Sahara, as the picture on the left shows. This find strengthens the view that has been proposed by members of the team that there was contact across the Strait of Gibraltar as far back as half a million years ago, and that this may have involved a sea crossing of the Strait by North African Homo heidelbergensis.

Tuesday 12th August saw the discovery of a large perforated scallop shell.

This perforated scallop was found in the Neolithic levels of Gorham's Cave. The Neolithic period dates, in Gibraltar, from around 5,600BC. Whereas in the rest of the world what is termed as the 'Neolithic Revolution' is characterised by the advent of farming, the establishment of settlements and the domestication of animals, in Gibraltar it appears that life continued in Caves. This scallop was probably worn around the neck as a personal adornment.

What else are we finding in the cave?
Unusual discoveries are not made every single day, which is why those shown above cause some excitement. However, this does not mean that anything else which is found on site is not important. Everyday animal bones, shells, pieces of ceramic, stone tools, and charcoal amongst other items are excavated, their location plotted and recorded and collected. All these finds are very important in giving information about the cave and its different periods of occupation and use.

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