Collin's Cave is a cave in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It is located in the northeastern part of the Rock, between Reservoir Fissure and Middle Hill Cave. The cave is above

Catalan Bay Catalan Bay () is a bay and fishing village in Gibraltar, on the eastern side of The Rock away from Westside. Etymology Although the origin of Catalan Bay's name is documented, a couple of theories co-exist. Documentary evidence suggests th ...

. It is one of the many caves in Gibraltar. It is believed to be archaeologically important and is listed in the government's

Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018 The Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018 is a Gibraltar law unanimously passed in 2018 by the Gibraltar Parliament The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006, it was called ...

Description

This is a natural cave, but it has archaeological value. Human remains, stone tools and artefacts have been found by the Gibraltar Scientific Society. It was occupied in

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times. The bones found belonged to ibex boar, (probably) lynx, rabbit, ox, eagle or vulture and humans. Many of these were displayed at Gibraltar Library in 1910 as at that time there was no

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, General ...

. They were arranged by Major Howell Jones R.A.. Major General Edward Ranulph Kenyon (1854-1937) realised that a cave at this height could still be a sea-cave and it was possible that the bones had been washed in by the sea. The cave is over 400 feet above Catalan Bay on the east side of Gibraltar. It was surveyed in the 1960s and its entrance is described as "inaccessible".

Discovery and namesake

It was rediscovered in the nineteenth century by Ernest Rokeby Collins. Collins was commissioned in 1892 and served with the 30th Foot (East Lancs Regiment) and he was promoted to captain in 1896. He would later be awarded a

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in the Boer War and he became a Major. In 1918 he became a second lieutenant. He died in 1963. Collin's interest in archaeology continued after he left Gibraltar. When he was in South Africa he collected stone tools which were sometimes found while digging trenches. He later donated his finds to the British Museum. He co-authored and published a 1915 paper with Reginald A. Smith of the British Museum on "Stone implements from South African gravels"."Stone implements from South African gravels", with Reginald A. Smith, in the

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute The ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute'' (JRAI) is the principal journal of the oldest anthropological organization in the world, the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Articles, at the forefront of the di ...

(Vol. 45, pp. 79-91).

Today

In 2018 this cave on Gibraltar's east cliffs was listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act by the Government of Gibraltar.

References

{{improve categories, date=November 2024 Collin's Cave Neolithic sites of Europe