Dolphin and seal remains dated 30.000 to 60.000 years ago were recently discovered in Vanguard and Gorham's caves on the Rock of Gibraltar, along with flint knives used by Neanderthals. This leads to the conclusion that Neanderthals, besides eating land grub, were skilled and adaptive enough to hunt sea mammals.
 

This proves that the early hominids were not just rudimentary brutes, but in fact they were rivals in technology and skill to the modern humans' ancestors living in that period. Until now, it was believed that Neanderthals were clearly inferior, as no signs of any activity involving hunting sea animals, which is regarded as proof of superiority, were associated with their habits. Homo sapiens and Neanderthals coexisted in Europe for a period of 10.000 to 20.000 years before the latter became extinct.

Clive Finlayson, director of the Heritage Division of the Gibraltar Museum in Spain, was a member of the international anthropologist team that uncovered and analyzed the marine animal bones. As he deduced, "Neanderthals could not have been that stupid and dumb. These people probably had a pretty good knowledge of the seasons and when to go hunting." Referring to the superiority preconceptions, he stated, "Deep down there is this idea that modern humans are cognitively superior and therefore able to outcompete Neanderthals. I suppose we've thrown a bit of a spanner in the works by showing that Neanderthals were doing exactly the same thing."

 

At the sites where the discovery was made, the team also found obvious signs of tool-making, hearths and land animal skeletal remains like boars or bears as well as mollusk leftovers. This indicates that Neanderthals were skilled hunters on land too, and that their society was well-developed. This is perhaps the factor that allowed them to survive long after their inland kin disappeared. The seal bones presented signs of butchering, which is clear evidence that they had been eaten, but the dolphin bones did not have any cut marks, which might suggest that the two species of dolphins found had actually been captured only for their fat.

It has not yet been established how exactly the seafood was caught. The current suppositions show Neanderthals using clubs in order to kill the specimens that neared the shores in order to give birth, which means that they had knowledge of the seasons as well as of seal breeding periods. As for the dolphins, perhaps only those that used to swim too close to the caves or got stranded on the shore were caught. The fact that the sea mammal remains date from different periods of time shows that hunting them was a common practice, not a singular event, and it is possible that it was happening in all the areas inhabited by Neanderthals at the time (the coasts of Portugal and Spain). In an interview to LiveScience, Finlayson stated, "Our preliminary findings would suggest that in some cases it may have been a significant component of the mammals they were taking. I would find it hard to believe it's just peculiar to this site. Perhaps this study prompts others to go and look for it."