Gibraltar 1

Hominin fossil

Gibraltar Skull

Common name| Gibraltar Skull
Species| Homo neanderthalensis
Age| Unknown
Place discovered| Forbes' Quarry, Gibraltar
Date discovered| c. 1848
Discovered by| Unknown

Gibraltar 1 is the name given to a Neanderthal skull, also known as the Gibraltar Skull, which was discovered at Forbes' Quarry in Gibraltar. The skull was presented to the Gibraltar Scientific Society by its secretary, Lieutenant Edmund Henry Réné Flint, on 3 March 1848.[1][2] This discovery predates the finding of the Neanderthal type specimen.

## In 19th century science[edit]

Part of a series on the

History of Gibraltar

Prehistory

* Prehistoric Iberia
* Neanderthals of Gibraltar
* Gibraltar 1
* Gibraltar 2

Medieval

* Umayyad conquest of Hispania
* Al-Andalus
* Moorish Gibraltar
* Reconquista
* First Siege of Gibraltar
* Second Siege of Gibraltar
* Third Siege of Gibraltar
* Fourth Siege of Gibraltar
* Fifth Siege of Gibraltar
* Sixth Siege of Gibraltar
* Seventh Siege of Gibraltar

Early modern

* Eighth Siege of Gibraltar
* Ninth Siege of Gibraltar
* Tenth Siege of Gibraltar
* Catholic Monarchs
* Marquisate of Gibraltar
* War of the Spanish Succession
* Capture of Gibraltar
* Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar
* Treaty of Utrecht
* Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar
* Great Siege of Gibraltar

19th century

* Royal Calpe Hunt

20th century

* Military history of Gibraltar during World War II

* Evacuation of the Gibraltarian civilian population during World War II

* Operation Felix
* First sovereignty referendum
* First constitution
* Border closure
* Operation Flavius/Death on the Rock

Modern Gibraltar

* Second sovereignty referendum
* Cordoba Agreement, 2006
* Second constitution

See also

* History of nationality in Gibraltar
* Political development in modern Gibraltar

* Fortifications of Gibraltar

Timeline
Gibraltar portal

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Found more than ten years before the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and eight years prior to the famous discovery in the Neander Valley, the significance of the find was not understood at the time, and the skull was simply labelled as "an ancient human, died before the universal flood" and remained forgotten inside a cupboard at the Garrison Library for many years.[3] After the publication of Origin of Species, a renewed interest in the fossil human remains led to the skull being brought out of obscurity, and presented at a meeting in the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1864.[4] Darwin was not present, but the skull was later examined by both Darwin and Thomas Huxley, who concluded the skull was that of an extinct human species. Darwin did however only make fleeting reference to Gibraltar 1 in the 1871 Descent of Man.[5] A cast of the skull can be viewed at the Gibraltar Museum – the original is on display in the Human Evolution gallery of the Natural History Museum in London.

## Age[edit]

Front view of the skull in the Natural History Museum, London

The original find was done in a time where the palaeontological dating was still in its infancy, and no stratigraphic information was supplied with the skull, making dating at best guesswork. Another specimen from a different locale on Gibraltar (Gibraltar 2) has however been dated to between 30 thousand to 50 thousand years old.[6] The skull is that of an adult woman, also with typical Neanderthal features.[7] While the skull was one of the first to be found, it was also possibly from one of the last surviving Neanderthal populations.[4]

## Gibraltar as a refuge[edit]

Side view of the Skull

Until the late twentieth century, it was believed that the last Neanderthals disappeared about 35,000 years ago. However, studies have suggested that Neanderthals survived in southern Iberia and Gibraltar to less than 30,000 years before the present. Radiocarbon dating performed on charcoal in Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar in 2006 suggests that Neanderthals lived there 24,000 to 28,000 years ago, well after the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe 40,000 years ago. Vanguard Cave and Gorham's Cave are still the sites of active archaeological excavation in 2012. These caves may have represented the refugium of Gibraltar's Neanderthals.[8]

## 3D model[edit]

Three dimensional model of Gibraltar 1

* Video of a 3D model of Gibraltar 1 Neanderthal skull discovered at Forbes' Quarry.

## See also[edit]

* Engis 2
* Gibraltar 2
* Neanderthal
* Neanderthal 1
* List of fossil sites (with link directory)
* List of human evolution fossils (with images)
* History of Gibraltar

## References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gibraltar 1.

1. ^ Menez, Alex (2018). "Custodian of the Gibraltar Skull: The History of the Gibraltar Scientific Society". Earth Sciences History. 37 (1): 34–62. doi:10.17704/1944-6178-37.1.34.
2. ^ Menez, Alex (March 2018). "The Gibraltar Skull: early history, 1848–1868". Archives of Natural History. 45 (1): 91–110. doi:10.3366/anh.2018.0485.
3. ^ "Lower St. Michael's Cave". Visit Gibraltar. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
4. ^ a b Balter, M. (2009-09-22). "When Darwin Met a Neandertal". Talk Origins. Science. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
5. ^ Darwin, R.C. 1871: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray. Volume 1., p. 28, 1st edition.
6. ^ Smith, T. M.; Tafforeau, P.; Reid, D. J.; Pouech, J.; Lazzari, V.; Zermeno, J. P.; Guatelli-Steinberg, D.; Olejniczak, A. J.; Hoffman, A.; Radovcic, J.; Makaremi, M.; Toussaint, M.; Stringer, C.; Hublin, J.-J. (15 November 2010). "Dental evidence for ontogenetic differences between modern humans and Neanderthals" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (49): 20923–20928. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10720923S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1010906107. PMC 3000267. PMID 21078988.
7. ^ "The Gibraltar Skull". Nature. 120 (3028): 710. 12 November 1927. Bibcode:1927Natur.120..710.. doi:10.1038/120710a0.
8. ^ Rincon, Paul (13 September 2006). "Neanderthals' 'last rock refuge'". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2012.

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History and Archaeology of Gibraltar

Archaeological sites|

* Forbes' Quarry
* Gorham's Cave
* Grand Casemates Square
* Main Street
* Moorish Castle
* Vanguard Cave

Fossils|

* Gibraltar 1
* Gibraltar 2

History|

* 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash
* History of the Genoese in Gibraltar
* History of the Indians in Gibraltar
* History of the Jews in Gibraltar
* History of the Maltese in Gibraltar
* History of the Moroccans in Gibraltar
* History of the Portuguese in Gibraltar
* History of the Spanish in Gibraltar
* Military history of Gibraltar during World War II
* Devil's Tower
* Evacuation of the Gibraltarian civilian population during World War II
* Exchange and Commercial Library
* Genoese Guard
* Gibraltar Dockyard
* Gibraltar Theatre Royal
* Gibraltar Water Catchments
* History of the Indians in Gibraltar
* History of the Moroccans in Gibraltar
* History of the Portuguese in Gibraltar
* History of the Spanish in Gibraltar
* HMS Gibraltar Prize
* Keys of Gibraltar
* Nun's Well
* Rosia Tanks
* Royal Calpe Hunt
* Royal Naval Hospital
* Seal of Gibraltar
* The Mount
* Willis's Magazine
* Operation Tracer
* Project Vitello
* First Siege (1309)
* Second Siege (1316)
* Third Siege (1333)
* Fourth Siege (1333)
* Fifth Siege (1349)
* Sixth Siege (1374)
* Seventh Siege (1436)
* Eight Siege (1462)
* Ninth Siege (1467)
* Tenth Siege (1506)
* Capture (1704)
* Twelfth Siege (1704)
* Thirteenth Siege (1727)
* Great Siege
* World War II Tunnels
* Lathbury Barracks
* American War Memorial
* Great Siege Tunnels
* Gibraltar War Memorial
* Parson's Lodge Battery
* Fortifications of Gibraltar (images available)
* HMS Calpe (1965 shore establishment)
* HMS Cormorant II (shore establishment)
* Sikorski's death controversy

Organisations|

* No. 202 Squadron RAF
* HMS Rooke (1946 shore establishment)
* Gibraltar Defence Force

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Neanderthal

Ancestors|

* Homo habilis → Homo erectus (→ Homo antecessor)? → Homo heidelbergensis → Homo neanderthalensis

Biology|

* Anatomy
* Behaviour
* Genetics
* Admixture with H. sapiens
* Extinction

Tool traditions|

* Acheulean
* Mousterian
* Châtelperronian (controversial)
* Levallois technique

Regional variants|

* Gibraltar Neanderthals
* Southwest Asian Neanderthals

Notable specimens|

| Archaic (430 ka)|

* Miguelón

|

Intermediate (250–130 ka)|

* Saccopastore skulls
* Ehringsdorf 9
* Altamura 1

Typical
(130–50 ka)|

* La Ferrassie 1 (site)
* La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 (site)
* La Quina 5 and 18
* Krijn
* Scladina
* Saccopastore 1 and 2
* Altamura man
* Mt. Circeo 1
* Krapina Neanderthal site
* Shanidar 1-4
* Teshik-Tash 1
* Kebara 2 (site)
* Tabun C1
* Amud 1 and 7 (site)
* OR-1

In radiocarbon
range (50–40 ka)|

* Neanderthal 1 (site)
* Spy 1 and 2
* Engis 2 (site)
* Sidrón remains
* Gibraltar 1 and 2 (site)
* Saint-Césaire 1
* Le Moustier
* Fontéchevade
* Mezmaiskaya 1

Fossils with claimed
Neanderthal traits|

| H. heidelbergensis|

* Bontnewydd tooth
* Atapuerca
* Samu
* Azykhantrop

|

Homo sapiens|

* Peștera cu Oase
* Lagar Velho 1

Contemporary species|

* Homo erectus
* Denisovan
* Homo floresiensis
* Homo naledi
* Homo sapiens

Research|

* Excavation sites
* Neanderthal Museum
* Neanderthal genome project (In Search of Lost Genomes)

Popular culture|

* The Quest for Fire (film)
* The Grisly Folk
* The Neanderthal Man
* The Inheritors
* The Ugly Little Boy
* Neanderthal Planet
* Dance of the Tiger
* Earth's Children (film)
* Neanderthal
* The Neanderthal Parallax

Documentaries|

* Prehistoric Autopsy

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