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Gibraltar 1 is the specimen name of a
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
skull, also known as the Gibraltar Skull found at Forbes' Quarry in
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...
and presented to the Gibraltar Scientific Society by its secretary, Lieutenant Edmund Henry Réné Flint on 3 March 1848. Its discovery predates that of the Neanderthal type specimen.


In 19th century science

Found more than ten years before the publication of
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's '' Origin of Species'' and eight years prior to the famous discovery in the Neander Valley, the significance of the find was not understood at the time, and the skull was simply labelled as "an ancient human, died before the universal flood" and lay forgotten inside a cupboard at the
Garrison Library The Garrison Library was founded in Gibraltar in 1793 by Captain (later Colonel) John Drinkwater Bethune. History Constructed on the site of the Governors’ residence during the Spanish occupation of Gibraltar, the library was officially open ...
for many years. After the publication of ''Origin of Species'', a renewed interest in the fossil human remains led to the skull being brought out of obscurity and presented at a meeting in the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1864. Darwin was not present, but the skull was later examined by both Darwin and
Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...
, who concluded the skull was that of an extinct human species. Darwin did however only make fleeting reference to Gibraltar 1 in the 1871 '' Descent of Man''. A cast of the skull can be viewed at the
Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, Gener ...
– the original is on display in the Human Evolution gallery of the Natural History Museum in London.


Age

The original find was done in a time where the palaeontological dating was still in its infancy, and no stratigraphic information was supplied with the skull, making dating at best guesswork. Another specimen from a different locale on Gibraltar ( Gibraltar 2) has however been dated to between 30 thousand to 50 thousand years old. The skull is that of an adult woman, also with typical Neanderthal features. While the skull was one of the first to be found, it was also possibly from one of the last surviving Neanderthal populations.


Gibraltar as a refuge

Until the late twentieth century, it was believed that the last Neanderthals disappeared about 35,000 years ago. However, studies have suggested that Neanderthals survived in southern Iberia and Gibraltar to less than 30,000 years before the present. Radiocarbon dating performed on charcoal in Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar in 2006 suggests that Neanderthals lived there 24,000 to 28,000 years ago, well after the arrival of ''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture ...
'' in Europe 40,000 years ago.
Vanguard Cave Vanguard Cave is a natural sea cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar which is part of the Gorham's Cave complex. This complex of four caves has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2016. The cave complex is one o ...
and Gorham's Cave are still the sites of active archaeological excavation in 2012. These caves may have represented the refugium of Gibraltar's Neanderthals.


3D model


See also

* Engis 2 * Gibraltar 2 *
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
* Neanderthal 1 * List of fossil sites ''(with link directory)'' * List of human evolution fossils ''(with images)'' * History of Gibraltar


References

{{Homo neanderthalensis, state=expanded 1848 archaeological discoveries Prehistoric Gibraltar 1848 in Gibraltar Neanderthal fossils Articles containing video clips