Gruta da Furninha | |
Alternative name | Dominique's cave |
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Coordinates | 39°21′21″N9°24′4″W / 39.35583°N 9.40111°W |
Furninha, also known as Dominique's cave, is a natural cave on the southern slope of the Peniche peninsula in Portugal. The cave is situated on the cliffs between the Peniche Fortress and the Cape Carvoeiro. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The cave is located furthest west of any Neanderthal site. Neanderthals became extinct over 40,000 years ago. [6] [7] [8] The cave was also inhabited by modern humans during the Neolithic. [9] [10] [11]
Furninha was explored by Nery Delgado at the end of the 19th century. [12] [13] Delgado demonstrated the caves' history of habitation by Neanderthals. [14] Delgado's excavation revealed the existence of animal occupation during the Lower Paleolithic , Neanderthal presence during the Middle Paleolithic, and the presence of Homo sapiens at the end of Chalcolithic. [15] [16] Delgado also reports the practice of anthropophagy by the Neanderthals of Furninha who, despite the proximity of the sea, were mainly hunters. [17] [18] The collection of remains gathered by Delgado was deposited in a Lisbon museum. [19]
Observation of a number of photographs from Furninha reveals the existence of a thin film of flora. This flora is believed to be in close relation with fungi, and displays intense colors of green, yellow and red zones. [20] [21]
The walls of the cave are covered with nutrients generated by the mixing of rain waters dropping through the vent of the vault with droplets of seawater entering the cave. [22]
The great auk is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It is not closely related to the Southern Hemisphere birds now known as penguins, which were discovered later by Europeans and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk, which were called penguins.
Peniche is a seaside municipality and a city in the Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura, and in the Leiria District. It has 26,431 inhabitants, in an area of 77.55 km2. The city itself has a population of about 15,600 inhabitants. The present mayor is Henrique Bertino, elected by the independent coalition GCEPP.
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Torres Novas is a Portuguese municipality in the district of Santarém, in the Médio Tejo of the Centro region. The population of the municipality was approximately 36,717, in an area that encompasses 270 square kilometres (100 sq mi). The city of Torres Novas proper has about 15,000 inhabitants in an area located within the municipality.
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Neanderthals are an extinct group of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. The type specimen, Neanderthal 1, was found in 1856 in the Neander Valley in present-day Germany.
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The Cave of Aroeira is an archaeological and paleoanthropological site in the Portuguese Estremadura Limestone Massif. The cave is located in the village of Almonda, in the civil parish of Zibreira, in the municipality of Torres Novas in the district of Santarém. The cave contained stones from the Paleolithic Acheulean culture, and the skull of Homo heidelbergensis, circa 400,000 years old. The discovery of Aroeira 3 was announced in spring 2017 - the earliest human trace in Portugal.
Aroeira 3 is a 400,000 year old Homo heidelbergensis hominid skull which was discovered in the Aroeira cave, Portugal. It is the earliest human trace in Portugal. H. heidelbergensis existed at the transition between Homo erectus and early Neanderthals and used both stone tools and fire. The skull was damaged during the 2014 excavation but was restored in the following two years. In 2017 the description of the skull was published in PNAS. It is on display in the National Archaeology Museum (Lisbon).
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