A documentary entitled “The Lost Neanderthals”, which was aired on Wednesday 3rd September on BBC4, featured Gibraltar and the work being carried out in the Gorham’s Cave Complex by the Gibraltar National Museum.
The documentary followed French archaeologist Dr Ludowig Slimak and recent discoveries which his team have made in Mandrin Cave in southern France. The cave was regularly occupied in prehistoric times and in 2015, the remains of a Neanderthal were uncovered. The archaeological evidence points to this individual, named Thorin, having lived in close proximity to newly arrived modern humans. The documentary followed an international team of scientists as they discovered and investigated the human remains and artefacts recovered.
The connection with Gibraltar resulted when the DNA extracted from Thorin was compared to that from other Neanderthals. Thorin was found to belong to an ancient Neanderthal lineage and its closest relative was Gibraltar woman - “Nana” - from Forbes’ Quarry. This stunning revelation has led, in Professor Clive Finlayson’s words in the documentary, to “a change of paradigm” in our understanding of the Neanderthals. For the first time we are looking at Neanderthal regional populations and it seems that Gibraltar and the Rhone Valley were part of one such “Mediterranean metapopulation”, quite distinct from the central European Neanderthals that included the Neander Valley individual.
The documentary ends in Gibraltar with a visit by Dr Slimak to the Gibraltar National Museum and the Gorham’s Cave Complex, where he discusses the discoveries from Mandrin with Professor Clive Finlayson.
The documentary is available on catchup and will be screened again on BBC4 next Tuesday evening, at 23:50 hours.
