Until recently, evidence of Neanderthal cave use in the Algarve (Southern Portugal) came only from the site of Ibn Ammar. Over the last couple of years, archaeological excavations inside another cave, Gruta da Companheira, yielded Mousterian stone tools associated with possible human fossils. The discovery of this assemblage is groundbreaking because it may contribute to enlighten the Neanderthal/cave relationship and explain the dearth of similar sites in the Algarve. Gruta da Companheira, however, is a complex karst system, which was partly destroyed during its accidental discovery. As result, the original entrance of the cave remains unknown, and it is unclear how sediments, archaeological materials and Neanderthals accessed the site.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.