Gorham's Cave, at the southern end of the Rock of Gibraltar, is a large cavern that sits close to the Mediterranean coast in full view of North Africa. The cave is rich in archaeological deposits and evidence of Neanderthal occupation, dating back to the last interglacial period, around 120 thousand years ago. The focus of this book is the upper archaeological horizons that held the last-known populations of Neanderthals on the planet. The book will provide detailed evidence of the late survival of the Neanderthals and the Mediterranean landscape in which they lived. In addition, the evidence from the site is used to reconstruct the behavioural ecology of the Neanderthals. This is then compared and contrasted with the first modern human occupation levels at the site. The book sets the site in a regional and Eurasian context and discusses more widely the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the extinction of the Neanderthals.

Author Biography

Clive Finlayson is Director of the Heritage Division at the Gibraltar Museum, Joaquin Rodriguez Vidal is based at the University of Huelva, and Francisco Giles Pacheco at the Museo el Puerto Santa Maria.