Devil's Tower Cave facts for kids

Devil's Tower Cave is a special cave located in Gibraltar, a small country that is part of the United Kingdom. This cave is very important because it tells us a lot about Neanderthals, an ancient type of human. An archaeologist named Dorothy Garrod discovered a Neanderthal skull here. This and other finds show that Neanderthals used the cave as a safe place to live, like a natural shelter.

Exploring Devil's Tower Cave

Gibraltar is often called the "Hill of Caves" because it has so many! All these caves are made from a type of rock called limestone. Devil's Tower Cave is quite unique. It's a very narrow crack or "fissure" in the cliff. It reaches a height of about ten meters but is only around one meter wide. The cave goes into the cliff for about four meters. Its floor is nine meters above the sea.

The First Discoveries

The cave was first found by two explorers: Col. William Willoughby Cole Verner, an English bird expert, and L’Abbe Breuil, a famous French expert on ancient humans. They found the cave in 1911. They quickly realized the cave was important because of the special rock layers, called breccias, which often hold old fossils. However, they didn't have time to dig deeper then.

On April 28, 1917, they came back to look more closely. They found stone tools made by Neanderthals and bones from animals. But their visit was cut short! A military police officer saw them climbing the cliff. He told them they had to "keep to the road."

Returning with Permission

They didn't give up! On April 10, 1919, they returned again. This time, they had a special pass from the Governor of Gibraltar. They eagerly explored the loose rocks and debris, called talus, at the cave's entrance. They found more remains, including over a dozen flint tools. They also noticed layers of fallen rocks and more breccias.

They knew that Devil's Tower Cave was very close to another important site, Forbes' Quarry Cave. That's where the famous Neanderthal skull, known as Gibraltar 1, was found in 1848. Because of these clues, they believed that "Prehistoric Man" had used Devil's Tower Cave. The animal bones and shells they found were likely leftovers from their meals. They also saw pieces of burnt bone and charcoal, which showed that these ancient people were cooking their food!

A Child's Skull is Found

Between November 1925 and January 1927, the cave was explored even more. This time, Dorothy Garrod from Cambridge University led the work. L’Abbe Breuil had suggested she investigate the site. She dug very carefully and made another amazing discovery: a Neanderthal skull! This skull is now known as Gibraltar 2. We now know that this skull belonged to a Neanderthal child, who was about four years old. This find helped scientists learn even more about Neanderthal families and how they lived.