The Devil's Tower was an ancient

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

in the British Overseas Territory of

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 = Gib ...

close to a rock shelter where

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains of a

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

child were discovered, together with

palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

tools. The Tower and remains, however, were unrelated.

Construction

The tower was constructed in

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It was demolished in 1940 during World War II on the orders of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

General Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane on the grounds that it was in the line of fire of one of Gibraltar's many guns.

Devil's Tower skull

The Devil's Tower skull was that of a Neanderthal child. The remains were excavated by

Dorothy Garrod Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod, CBE, FBA (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968) was an English archaeologist who specialised in the Palaeolithic period. She held the position of Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1 ...

in a

Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the l ...

shelter on the site.Garrod ''et al.'', 1928 There is evidence of an injury to the mouth, and the teeth show developmental disorders consistent with seasonal starvation. The classic Neanderthal large brain case is evident and the brow ridges have started to develop. The skull substantially reinforced the evidence of the Neanderthals of Gibraltar. Most of the lower jaw has survived, along with the frontal bone, most of the right side of the face and the left parietal bone.

Eponymy

The tower gave its name to the Devil's Tower Camp, the Devils Tower Emplacement, Devil's Tower Road and other nearby places.

References

External links

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Reconstruction of the Neanderthal child's head and face
1940 disestablishments in Gibraltar Buildings and structures demolished in 1940 Fortifications in Gibraltar Archaeological sites in Gibraltar Demolished buildings and structures in Gibraltar Neanderthal sites Mousterian Watchtowers Limestone buildings {{Gibraltar-geo-stub