Minister for Heritage, the Hon Professor John Cortes, will be inaugurating a new gallery at the Gibraltar National Museum at 2pm on Friday 15th May, 2026.

The Flint Gallery commemorates the centenary of the discovery of the Devil’s Tower Neanderthal child (popularly known as Flint) in 1926. The opening is an important part of a range of events planned for the course of this year. A new image of Flint will be revealed and will be shown to the public for the first time during the Open Day, which will be held between 10 am and 6 pm on Saturday 16th May. This image has been produced by leading world palaeoartist Mauricio Antón, based on information provided by the Gibraltar National Museum. It will complement the sculpture of Flint which was produced by Kennis & Kennis ten years ago.

The new gallery will also reveal, for the first time, a sculpture of a juvenile Eagle Owl in threat posture. It aims to recreate a moment going back 100 thousand years, when a Neanderthal caught a young Eagle Owl in the Neanderthals’ Grotto. A replica of the remains of the owl, found unusually in anatomical connection with only the powerful talons missing, will be exhibited alongside. It is thought that the talons may have been taken for adornment.

Overall, the new gallery, 100 years after the discovery of the Devil’s Tower Neanderthal child and 10 years after the inscription of the Gorham’s Cave Complex on the UNESCO World Heritage List, aims to bring new discoveries and a new image of the Neanderthals, based largely on the research being carried out in Gibraltar. Flint’s image will be literally presenting a new face of the Neanderthals.