Vanguard Cave
| Vanguard Cave | |
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| Location | Below the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar |
| Coordinates | 36°07′13.43″N 05°20′31.47″W / 36.1203972°N 5.3420750°W |
| Depth | 17 metres (56 ft) |
| Height variation | 35 metres (115 ft) |
| Geology | Limestone |
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 for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The cave complex is one of the last known habitations of the Neanderthals, with a period of inhabitation from 55,000 to 28,000 years ago. It is located on the southeast face of the Rock of Gibraltar.
Vanguard Cave is one of four caves which together make up the Gorham's Cave complex which has been nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the others being Bennett's, Gorham's, and Hyaena Cave. Vanguard is a 35 metres (115 ft) high cave which contains 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) of deposits. These deposits have been blown into the cave over time and are mixed in with archaeological evidence. These can be excavated and analysed to reveal how the geography and life has changed during the time that they were deposited. Vanguard was first excavated in 1989, and lies just a few metres north of Gorham's Cave, which was excavated in 1951.
In 2008 it was revealed that the cave supplied evidence that Homo neanderthalensis had a more varied diet than previously thought. The diet of H. neanderthalensis is now thought to have included fish and molluscs and marine animals like monk seal and dolphin. This may seem obvious given that Vanguard cave now looks out onto the Alboran Sea; however, scientists think that the cave was around 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) from the shore at the time of H. neanderthalensis. Lower sea levels may have also assisted ancient man by revealing islands between Gibraltar and the North African coast. This may have made the now 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide Strait of Gibraltar easier to cross and there are similar Mousterian sites in Morocco at Grottes des Pigeons and Jebel Irhoud.
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