The findings may have ‘changed human history’.
Archaeologists were left stunned after coming across a new chamber on the Rock of Gibraltar that’s been sealed off for 40,000 years.
Descending into a hidden chamber that has been untouched for tens of thousands of years and stepping into a world frozen in time long before recorded history. That is exactly what archaeologists have done in the famous Gorham’s Cave Complex on the Rock of Gibraltar… pic.twitter.com/1CHVNSSD8Q
— Kitana Royal 🪭 (@Ninna4963851) January 14, 2026
The discovery – made during of an excavation of the cave network – could shed light on the Neanderthals, who lived on there for centuries.
The Gorham’s Cave complex is located on the coast of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory perched on the southern tip of Spain. Nestled against steep limestone cliffs, this seaside warren is composed of four separate caves: Gorham’s Cave, Vanguard Cave, Hyaena Cave, and Bennett’s Cave.
Appears to be complete with a museum of artefacts that shine a light on the lives of the forgotten people.
Neanderthals were an extinct group of archaic humans, our closest relatives, who lived in Europe and Asia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.
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Although no skeletal remains of Neanderthals or Homo sapiens have ever been found inside, there is abundant evidence of human activity spanning 100,000 years. This predates the arrival of modern humans in Western Europe around 40,000 years ago, indicating that this is the work of Neanderthals.
Some of the most crucial evidence comes in the form of seafood. Over the years, researchers digging at the cave have uncovered a huge quantity of mussel shells, as well as the bones of fish, seals, and dolphins. These remains couldn’t have reached the cave naturally by tide or waves, plus it’s evident that some of them have been processed using knives and other butchering techniques.
The floors are adorned with several cross-hatching patterns that have been deeply scratched into the bedrock. While there has been some dispute over the authorship of these markings, researchers have claimed they were created by Neanderthals over 39,000 years ago. Could these rough-and-ready etchings be considered artworks? If so, this would be yet another example of Neanderthals’ creative, intelligent side.
Speaking of their intelligence, more recent research in the Vanguard Cave has found a 60,000-year-old hearth that was used to cook up birch tar, a gloopy, glue-like substance used by prehistoric humans to attach handles to tools or weapons. This demonstrates that the residents of this cave were smart, resourceful, and perhaps handed down knowledge from generation to generation.
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Clive Finlayson, director and chief scientist at the Gibraltar National Museum, told CNN in 2021 that they also found scratch marks on the walls from an unidentified carnivore.
“The whelk is at the back of that cave… it’s probably about 20 meters from the beach,” he said.
“Somebody took that whelk in there… over 40,000 years ago. So that’s already given me a hint that people have been in there, which is not perhaps too surprising. Those people, because of the age, can only be Neanderthals.”
Finlayson admitted that he got ‘goosebumps’ when he first entered the cave, referring to it as one of the most exciting moments of his career.
“How many times in your life are you going to find something that nobody’s been into for 40,000 years? It only comes once in your lifetime, I think,” he said
“As we dig, it’s only going to get bigger and bigger and bigger.
“So the chances are we have an enormous cave there. And as we go down there may even be so passages. So it’s extremely exciting.”
