Petralona Cave

the cave was discovered by Filippos Handzaridis on May 10, 1959 and became known for its paleontological and paleoanthropological findings as early as 1960, after the accidental discovery in the cave by the resident of Petraloni, H. Sarigiannidis, of the famous fossilized human skull. The value of the find and its uniqueness gave rise to a series of works inside and outside the cave. In 1968 and in the period 1974-1988, excavations were carried out in the cave by the (paleo)anthropologist Aris Poulianos.

In the publications of Poulianos about the cave, stone and bone tools are mentioned, but the temporary nature of the publications does not give us a clear picture of them. The finds are certainly very important and constitute the first evidence of habitation in the Greek geographical area.

From an anthropological point of view, the fossilized skull is a very important find, but there is no unanimity among experts on its dating and evaluation. The main opinions diverge considerably and the skull is considered to belong to a man who lived about 700,000 years ago on the one hand and about 200,000 years ago on the other.

Unfortunately, no compromise is apparent nor is any approach prescribed between the experts and the find remains unexploited anthropologically and archaeologically. It is imperative to provide a reliable answer for the assessment of the most important finds of the cave of Petraloni.

It was discovered on September 16, 1960 on the Katsika Hill of Petralona, by Christos Sarigiannidis, inside the limestone cave and attached to a stalagmite 23 cm above the ground.

The Petralona 1 is highly transitional in its morphology – so much so that some believe it represents an intermediate state between Homo neanderthalensis and its most primitive ancestor. It actually shares quite a few features with other Neanderthal fossils, but there are also some very primitive features. In its general appearance the Petralona 1 he has the face of a Neanderthal but the skull of a more archaic type. First, the Petralona 1 classified as Homo neanderthalensis, but later redefined as Homo erectus. Today, however, most researchers agree that it belongs to the type of fossils found at Atapuerca and other places in Europe, the Homo heidelbergensis.

First, the Petralona 1 it was dated to 70,000 years ago, a date that corresponds to the most recent Neanderthal remains. Modern datings yielded the time depth of 700,000 years. The latest, based on electron resonance techniques combined with radio dating and stratigraphic data, yields a minimum time depth of 200,000 years. However, the morphology of the skull points more precisely to the time depth of 300,000 or 400,000 years.