Over 10m Japanese TV viewers watch Gorham’s programme

An estimated 10 million viewers in Japan have viewed the works carried out at the Gorham’s Cave Complex after the World Heritage Site was featured on a TV show there.

Gorham’s Cave was featured by Japanese on-demand network NHK in an episode of its new series “Out of the Cradle”.

The episode called On Eurasia – Encounter with the Neanderthals depicted Gibraltar as part of its series on human evolution.

The works led by the Gibraltar Museum team were also shown in a BBC Two series entitled Meet your Ancestors, which featured actor Andy Serkis, known for his roles as Gollum in Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Planet of the Apes.

The first ever scientifically accurate, 3D, working avatar of a real Neanderthal was created for the series in which Gorham’s and Vanguard Caves took central stage as sites which have revolutionised our understanding of Neanderthal behaviour.

Commenting on the latest coverage at the start of the 2018 excavation season, Professor Clive Finlayson of the Gibraltar Museum said that Gibraltar had a unique world treasure in these caves, whose generosity appeared to have no bounds.

“We plan each season’s work meticulously but we just never know what surprises lie awaiting our team,” he said.

The participation of international and local students in the project is growing each year and Professor Finlayson is optimistic that, with the Gibraltar Museum’s additional role as an Associate Campus of the University of Gibraltar, the prospects for the future are very bright.

“This project is now not just about the excavations themselves. Thanks to this cutting-edge work, we now have a wonderful platform as leaders in this field and we should make the most of this at all levels,” he added.

“We are poised to become one of the world’s Centres of Excellence, not only in studies of human evolution which we already are, but also in many of the related disciplines which come under the umbrella of Quaternary Studies.”