[1] An ancient skull (specimen name Gibraltar 1) was found within Forbes' Quarry by Captain Edmund Flint of the Royal Navy in 1848.

[2] The skull had unusual features, but its significance as a representative of an extinct human species was not realised until 1864, eight years after the 1856 discovery of the more extensive assemblage of Neanderthal remains in the Neander Valley of Germany that eventually became the type specimen and source of the name of the species Homo neanderthalensis.

[3][4] The Forbes' Quarry skull attracted the attention of prominent scientists in Great Britain when it was presented at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in September 1864.

She was probably over age 40 at the time of her death, as indicated by extensive wear on the teeth, as well as a bony growth inside the forehead that is also observed in modern humans, in whom it occurs after menopause.

The area was quarried for stone during the 19th century to supply much-needed material to reinforce and rebuild many of the fortress' fortifications.