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Jul 05 - Neanderthal Child's Tooth Discovered At Vanguard Cave

Gibraltar’s third Neanderthal may have been found in Vanguard Cave after a child’s upper right canine milk tooth was discovered last month. 

The discovery was made by Miriam Napper, of Liverpool John Moores University, and Lucia Castagna, from Bologna University, who noticed a strange tooth while digging at the site.

This was passed on to Stewart Finlayson from Gibraltar Museum, who took the tooth to the laboratory and sent it over to specialists.

At a press conference held at the Gibraltar Museum this morning, Mr Finlayson said the museum yesterday received confirmation from three different experts that it’s a child’s tooth and it could have belonged to a Neanderthal child who lived in Gibraltar approximately 50,000 years ago.

Photographs of the teeth were sent to members of Professor Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro’s team at CENIEH in Burgos (linked to Atapuerca), including Dr Maria Martinon Torres (University College London) and pre-doctoral student Cecilia Garcia.

They confirmed the tooth belonged to a human child aged between four and five years old and showed features characteristics of Neanderthal. Its context, in a level at Vanguard Cave dated to ~50,000 years ago, confirms the identity as being Neanderthal.  The level from which the tooth came is not one of occupation by Neanderthals but is, instead, a Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) lair.  It is possible that the child had been predated by hyaenas, but this is only a working hypothesis at this stage.

Professor Clive Finlayson, Director of the Museum, said: “Work now continues at Vanguard and Gorham’s Cave until mid-August but, given the importance of the find – Gibraltar’s third Neanderthal – emphasis will be given to this level at Vanguard Cave.  Researchers do not discard the possibility of further finds but this cannot be known with certainty at this stage.

 “This is the first excavation at the Gorham’s Cave Complex since its declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2016.  It reveals further the importance of the site and its huge potential for further discoveries.  The Gibraltar Museum is responsible for the excavations at the site, and wish to acknowledge Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar’s continued support for the project, without which the research could not continue."

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