Archaeologists have recently cleared a section of the Vanguard Cave in the Gorham Cave Complex in Gibraltar, which had been sealed for 40,000 years. This cave is part of a larger complex that includes four caves: Gorham Cave, Vanguard Cave, Hyena Cave, and Bennett Cave. These caves were once inland during the prehistoric era, but rising sea levels have brought them within a few meters of the water. The first excavations at the site began in the 1980s, though the area was first discovered in 1907. During the last ice age, sea levels were up to 120 meters lower than they are today, allowing Neanderthals to walk across a plain up to 3 kilometers wide to reach the coast. Now, the sea can reach as far as 30 meters into the cave entrance. The Vanguard Cave has shown signs of human activity over a period of more than 100,000 years, but no human skeletons have ever been found there. Researchers believe that up to 40,000 years ago, the activity in the cave was exclusively that of Neanderthals. There is no evidence that Homo sapiens, or modern humans, were present in the Iberian Peninsula before that time. The excavations have uncovered a large number of mussel shells, limpets, and bones from fish, seals, and dolphins. These remains show signs of being cut with knives and other tools, indicating that Neanderthals were hunting and processing food in the area. A significant amount of sand has accumulated at the bottom of the cave, carried by the wind. Inside the cave, the floor slopes gently downward from 20 meters in height at the entrance to a point where the ceiling meets the floor. For archaeologists, this indicated that the area should be excavated. However, they first needed to clear the sand and dig through the ground. In 2021, researchers successfully cleared access to a new part of the cave. This chamber had been sealed for 40,000 years, and the last individuals to enter were Neanderthals. This time period marks the approximate disappearance of Neanderthals from the region. On the undisturbed floor of the 13-meter-long cave, the team found bones from lynx, hyena, and black vulture, along with claw marks from a large carnivore and a Buccin shell. In 2024, researchers from the National Museum of Gibraltar, the University of Murcia, and the Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra described the remains of a hearth in the Vanguard Cave. This hearth was unique because it was used to heat plant materials to create a sticky pitch, which was used as glue to attach stone points to spears. Clive Finlayson, director of the National Museum of Gibraltar, noted that the sand sealing the chamber was 40,000 years old, suggesting that the chamber itself is even older and was used by Neanderthals. Research in the Gorham Complex continues, with the promise of more exciting discoveries. Excavations focus on the quality of the findings rather than the speed of the work.