Plans for a Neanderthal Park in Gibraltar

PLANS are underway in Gibraltar to create a ‘Neanderthal Park,’ which would aim to communicate to visitors this stage of natural history in a fun and informative way.

The announcement was made by Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia during the Calpe conference, a series of talks which look at the story of human evolution.

The plan comes at an ideal time as the government of Gibraltar look to get UNESCO World Heritage status for Gorham’s Cave, one of the Rock’s most important features, and key to understanding the history and progress of human (and near-human) evolution.

The cave, thought to be one of the last places that Neanderthals inhabited in Europe, is found on the south-east face of Gibraltar’s coast.

As Homo Sapiens are thought to share between 1 and 4 per cent of our DNA with Neanderthals, a visit to the park could quite possibly help us to ‘walk in the footsteps’ of our ancestors.