Bennett's Cave | |
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Coordinates | 36°07′12.4″N5°20′31.9″W / 36.120111°N 5.342194°W |
Bennett's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms part of the Gorham's Cave complex which have been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. [1]
Bennett's 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 other caves are Vanguard, Gorham's and Hyaena Cave. [2] Bennett's cave, like the other three, has been gradually filled with sand that has been blown in over thousands of years. These sands fall and over time they build up to remarkable depths. In the case of Vanguard Cave and Gorham's Cave the deposits are more than seventeen metres deep. Because of this the layers of sand record the environment from 15,000 to 55,000 years ago when the area was very different. In the past, the sea level was lower and the shoreline was over 4,500 metres from the caves whereas today it is very close. [3]
The cave is listed in the Gibraltar Government's Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018. [4]
The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone mountain 426 m (1,398 ft) high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a narrow 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long promontory stretching due south into the Mediterranean Sea and is located within the British territory of Gibraltar, and is 27 km north-east of Tarifa, Spain, the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The rock serves as an impregnable fortress and contains a labyrinthine network of man-made tunnels known as the Tunnels of Gibraltar. Most of the Rock's upper area comprises a nature reserve which is home to about 300 Barbary macaques. It is a major tourist attraction.
Gorham's Cave is a sea-level cave in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Though not a sea cave, it is often mistaken for one. Considered to be one of the last known habitations of the Neanderthals in Europe, the cave gives its name to the Gorham's Cave complex, which is a combination of four distinct caves of such importance that they are combined into a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Gibraltar. The three other caves are Vanguard Cave, Hyaena Cave, and Bennett's Cave.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Gibraltar:
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 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2016. 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.
Lord Airey's Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located near the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, just north of O'Hara's Battery. It was named after the Governor of Gibraltar, General Sir Richard Airey. Construction of the battery was completed in 1891. The first gun mounted on the battery was a 6-inch breech loading gun, which was replaced with a 9.2-inch Mark X BL gun by 1900. The gun at the battery was last fired in the 1970s. In 1997, it was discovered that Lord Airey's Shelter, adjacent to Lord Airey's Battery, was the site chosen for a covert World War II operation that entailed construction of a cave complex in the Rock of Gibraltar, to serve as an observation post. The battery is listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
Ibex Cave is a limestone cave on the Rock of Gibraltar which has yielded stone artifacts of Mousterian tradition. It was discovered in 1975. It is so named as an ibex skull was found within the cave which would have been hunted by the Neanderthals of Gibraltar thousands of years ago. Ibex Cave was named and excavated by the Gibraltar Museum in 1994. Its first formal description was in 1999. It is protected by the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018 of the Government of Gibraltar.
Cave S or Sewell's Cave is a limestone cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar, near Holy Boy's Cave. Prehistoric human remains were found in the cave in 1910, and the cave is listed by the Government of Gibraltar as a Palaeolithic site.
Collin's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located in the northeastern part of the Rock, between Reservoir Fissure and Middle Hill Cave. The cave is above Catalan Bay. It is one of the many caves in Gibraltar. It is believed to be archaeologically important and is listed in the government's Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018.
Fig Tree Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on the eastern cliffs of the Rock of Gibraltar, not far from Martin's Cave within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. It is listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018 by the Government of Gibraltar.
The Goat's Hair Twin Caves are in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The caves are listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act as they are sites of Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeology.
Holy Boy's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is one of the largest of the many caves in Gibraltar and it is on the eastern side of the Rock, near Cave S. It is believed to be archaeologically important and is listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018.
Hyaena Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms part of the Gorham's Cave complex which has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The cave was listed as a Palaeontological site and it was protected by law in 2018.
Judge's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Human remains dated to the late prehistoric period have been unearthed in the cave. This Neolithic Shelter is protected by the law of Gibraltar.
Mammoth Cave or Signal Station Cave is in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is one of Gibraltar's largest caves and a Neolithic site. It is listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018.
Devil's Tower Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Archaeologist Dorothy Garrod found a Neanderthal skull in the cave which, together with other evidence found in this cave, shows it was used as a rock shelter by the Neanderthals of Gibraltar.
Boathoist Cave, also known as Bulman's Cave, is a huge sea cave on the south eastern flank of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.
The Neanderthals in Gibraltar were among the first to be discovered by modern scientists and have been among the most well studied of their species according to a number of extinction studies which emphasize regional differences, usually claiming the Iberian Peninsula partially acted as a “refuge” for the shrinking Neanderthal populations and the Gibraltar population of Neanderthals as having been one of many dwindling populations of archaic human populations, existing just until around 42,000 years ago. Many other Neanderthal populations went extinct around the same time.
The University of Gibraltar is a degree-awarding higher education institution established by the Government of Gibraltar through the University of Gibraltar Act 2015. The founding of the university was described by Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo as "a coming-of-age" for the British Overseas Territory.