The bejewelled with stalagmites and stalactites Petralona Cave has been developed on the western side of the limestone Katsika mountain (~700 m height) and 300 m above sea level.

The Cave was spotted in 1959 by the inhabitant of the Petralona village Philippos Chatzaridis and it became internationally known when the fossilized skull of Petralona man was found by a group of six men (three of them scientists), guided by another villager, Christos Sariannidis.

bejewelled with stalagmites and stalactites

The systematic excavations in the Cave started in 1965 by the founder of the Anthropological Association of Greece Ph.D. professor of anthropology Aris Poulianos.

His research proved that Petralona Archanthropus (i.e. an archaic Homo sapiens) has an age of about 700.000 years ago, which is the oldest known Europeoid man.

This chronology is based on the detail analysis of the Cave stratigraphy (until today 34 geological layers have been excavated). Also, it is based on the study of the Palaeolithic tools, as well as the exact diagnosis of the Palaeofauna species, which have been discovered in almost all layers.

More information at http://www.petralona-cave.gr