Sea cave and Neanderthal archaeological site in Gibraltar’s Gorham’s complex.
Vanguard Cave is a natural sea cave below the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar, within the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Part of the four-cave Gorham’s Cave complex, nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2016, it preserves deposits evidencing Neanderthal habitation between about 55,000 and 28,000 years ago.
Vanguard Cave is a natural sea cave and archaeological site in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, located below the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar on its southeast face. It forms one of four caves making up the Gorham’s Cave complex, together with Bennett’s, Gorham’s and Hyaena caves. This complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered one of the last known habitations of Neanderthals, with a period of inhabitation from 55,000 to 28,000 years ago. The cave is about 35 metres high and contains roughly 1.7 metres of deposits that were blown in over time and are mixed with archaeological material. Vanguard Cave, first excavated in 1989, lies just a few metres from Gorham’s Cave, which was excavated in 1951. Research in Vanguard Cave has provided evidence that Homo neanderthalensis had a more varied diet than previously thought, including fish, molluscs and marine animals such as monk seal and dolphin. Scientists believe that during Neanderthal occupation the cave stood around 4.5 kilometres from the shoreline, with lower sea levels exposing islands between Gibraltar and the North African coast. Vanguard Cave remains a focus of ongoing archaeological investigations within the Gorham’s Cave complex.
