Bennett's Cave is a cave in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It forms part of the

Gorham's Cave Gorham's Cave (, ) is a sea-level cave in the British Overseas Territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Though not a sea cave, it is often mistaken for one. Considered to be Neanderthals of Gibraltar, one of the last known habitation ...

complex which have been nominated for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

status.

Description

Bennett's Cave is one of four caves which together make up the Gorham's Cave complex which has been nominated to become a

. The other caves are

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

, Gorham's and Hyaena Cave. Bennett's cave, like the other three, has been gradually filled with sand that has been blown in over thousands of years. These sands fall and over time they build up to remarkable depths. In the case of

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 the deposits are more than seventeen metres deep. Because of this the layers of sand record the environment from 15,000 to 55,000 years ago when the area was very different. In the past, the sea level was lower and the shoreline was over 4,500 metres from the caves whereas today it is very close.Goreham's Cave complex
UNESCO tentative list, retrieved 4 August 2014 The cave is listed in the Gibraltar Government's Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018.

References

Caves of Gibraltar Neanderthal sites Limestone caves Wild caves {{Gibraltar-geo-stub