Gibraltar National Museum involved in international study of neanderthals

An international study led by Portuguese palaeontologist Carlos Neto de Carvalho and involving Gibraltar National Museum discovered Portugal’s first Neanderthal footprints, revealing new insights into their coastal lifestyle.

The research drew on scientists and institutions across Europe and China to analyse 78,000-82,000-year-old footprints from two Algarve sites, a study that Dr Stewart Finlayson and Professors Geraldine and Clive Finlayson of the Gibraltar National Museum, also participated in. At Monte Clérigo, they found five tracks and 26 footprints from adults and a toddler; at Praia do Telheiro, an isolated footprint from an adolescent or adult female. These footprints provide direct behavioural evidence, showing coastal movement patterns, social organisation and hunting strategies. One trackway revealed both human and deer prints, suggesting pursuit behaviour.

The study used ecological network analysis to examine other Iberian coastal sites, confirming Neanderthals’ diets included deer, horses, hares and marine resources.