Theopetra: 130,000 years of human history in one small cave (6 photos)

Greece is the cradle of all European civilization, and it has incredibly rich past. This is also evidenced by the legendary cave of Theopetra, located among the rocks of Meteora in Thessaly - thanks to this archaeological miracle, scientists can trace the history mankind as much as 130,000 years ago.





Theopetra cave, named after a nearby city, located in the famous region of Greece. Thessaly was originally called Aeolia and appeared in the Homeric epic "Odyssey"; right here in the Thessalian plain, a mythological battle unfolded between Olympians and Titans. The cave is located outside the city, but still remains within walking distance. The center of the settlement also has museum dedicated to this place.



Theopetra cave can be found on the slope of a large limestone hill overlooking the settlement and several nearby rivers. Although people have lived in this cave for long period of time, the mound appeared long before their existence, somewhere between 65 and 137 million years ago. Square the inside of the cave is approximately 500 square meters, and the entrance is wide 17 meters partially blocked by a stone wall.

It is not known exactly when the ancient cave was rediscovered, but official excavations began in 1987. At that time the shepherds used it as a place to hide the sheep when they had it necessary. Having sent the shepherds out, a group of archaeologists led by Dr. Nina Kyparissi-Apostolic began excavations in the hope of more learn about what this region was like during the Paleolithic era.



During the study, it became clear that Theopetra cave contains a diverse array of cultural monuments covering period from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic. Having studied the layers of sediments, Kyparissi-Apostolica and her team were also able to determine what time in the local climate there have been many changes, and with each there was a noticeable difference in the number of people who called the cave their home.

Findings in the Theopetra cave allowed scientists to trace changes in the area over thousands of years of human habitation. They are quite quickly established that the cave was used by people in antiquity, because almost immediately they found human bones throughout the cave. Analysis of these remains showed that the cave of Theopetra was permanently inhabited people from 135,000 to 4,000 BC Even in later times she still in occasional use until 1955.



In 2016, from the skeletons of two different people buried in cave, took DNA for analysis. The remains were dated 7288-6771 BC AD and 7605-7529 BC. Besides that Kyparissi-Apostolika and her colleagues were able to quite accurately establish period of people's stay in the cave, they discovered a number of other notable artifacts: tools, pottery, animal bones and many human graves.

It was here that archaeologists discovered some of the most ancient human footprints dating back to the Paleolithic era, as well as signs kindling artificial fire. Judging by their appearance, the footprints of barefoot legs belonged to hominid children between the ages of two and four, who called the cave their home.



Theopetra cave contains not only some of the oldest human footprints in Europe, but also the oldest known man-made buildings. The stone wall in front of the entrance was subjected to analysis called "Optically stimulated luminescence", which showed that it was built during the ice age - most likely for preventing wind from entering the cave.



Theopetra cave - a place that everyone must see lover of ancient history, but unfortunately it is no longer available for visits. The cave was originally opened to visitors in 2009, but shortly thereafter, entry was restricted so that researchers could analyze the same stone wall found at the entrance to the cave. When the excavations were completed, the cave remained open until 2016, but was again closed - this time due to the risk of a landslide. As of as of April 2023, it is still closed for security reasons.