Analyses of anatomy, DNA and cultural remains have yielded tantalizing insights into the inner lives of our mysterious extinct cousins
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On a clear day in Gibraltar, looking out of Gorham's Cave, you can see the rugged northern coast of Morocco looming purple above the turquoise sea. Inside the cave, quiet prevails, save for the lapping of waves against its rocky beach. But offshore, the strait separating this southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula from the African continent bustles with activity. Fishing vessels troll the waters for tuna and marlin, cruise ships carry tourists gawking at Gibraltar's hulking limestone massif, and tankers ferry crude oil from the Mediterranean to points west. With its swift, nutrient-rich currents, mild climate and gateway location, the area has attracted humans for millennia.
One impressive group dwelled in the region for tens of thousands of years, weathering several ice ages here. During such times lower sea levels exposed a vast coastal plain in front of the cave, land that supported a variety of animals and plants. These individuals cleverly exploited the local bounty. They hunted large animals such as ibex and seals and small ones such as rabbits and pigeons; they fished for bream and gathered mussels and limpets from the distant shore; they harvested pine nuts from the surrounding evergreens. Sometimes they took ravens and eagles for their plumage to bedeck themselves with the beautiful black flight feathers. And they engraved their cave floor with symbols whose meaning has since been lost to time.
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Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
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