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Late Neanderthals At Gorham's Cave
- Neanderthal sites like Gorham's Cave show Mousterian tools and suggest Neanderthals persisted in Gibraltar until about 25,000 years ago.
- Gorham's Cave yielded spear points, knives, and scrapers dated to ~25k years, challenging earlier extinction timelines.
British Evidence For Homo heidelbergensis Technology
- British sites Pakefield and Boxgrove show hominin occupation from ~700k and ~500k years ago, linking to Homo heidelbergensis.
- Boxgrove produced a partial tibia, teeth, antler soft-hammers, and possible wooden spears dated ~500k years.
Schöningen Spears Show Early Advanced Hunting
- Schöningen wooden spears (Germany) dated 300–400k years show careful selection and shaping, implying advanced hunting skill before Neanderthals.
- Spears used spruce with tapered tips and weight distribution for javelin-like accuracy.