Collin's Cave
| Collin's Cave | |
| Gibraltar | |
|---|---|
| Co-ordinates: | 36°8’23"N, 5°20’35"W |
| Geology: | limestone |
Collin's Cave is a cave in Gibraltar, located in the north-eastern part of the Rock, between Reservoir Fissure and Middle Hill Cave. The cave is above Catalan Bay.[1] It is one of the many caves in Gibraltar]]. It is believed to be archaeologically important and is listed under the Heritage and Antiquities Act.[2]
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 times. The bones found belonged to ibex boar, (probably) lynx, rabbit, ox, eagle or vulture and humans.[3]
Many of these were displayed at Gibraltar Library in 1910 as at that time there was no Gibraltar Museum. 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.[4]
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".[3]
Discovery and namesake
The cave was rediscovered in the nineteenth century by Ernest Rokeby Collins.[3] 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 in the Boer War and he became a Major. In 1918 he became a second lieutenant. He died in 1963.[5]
Collins'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".[6] [7]
Today
In 2018 this cave on Gibraltar's east cliffs was listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act by the Government of Gibraltar.[2]
References
- ↑ The Royal Engineers' Journal, page 423, Volume 10, 1910
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 "Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018". Gibraltar Gov Records. 2018. https://www.ministryforheritage.gi/uploads/Heritage%20and%20Antiquities%20Act/Heritage%20Report%20final%2024072018.pdf.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Collin's Cave, Neolithic site" (in en). https://www.ministryforheritage.gi/heritage-and-antiquities/collins-cave-neolithic-site-1002.
- ↑ Kenyon, Major General Edward Ranulph (December 1910). "Gibraltar under Moor, Spaniard, and Briton". The Royal Engineers Journal XII (8): 420–423. https://www.nzsappers.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1910-December.pdf.
- ↑ "Life story: Ernest Rokeby Collins | Lives of the First World War". https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/902432.
- ↑ "Stone implements from South African gravels", with Reginald A. Smith, in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (Vol. 45, pp. 79-91).
- ↑ "S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science". https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=552.