Petralona Cave

Petralona Cave
The Petralona Cave also Cave of the Red Stones, a karst formation, is located at above sea-level on the western foot of Mount Katsika, about east of the village of Petralona, about south-east of Thessaloniki city on the Chalkidiki peninsula, Greece. The site came to public attention when in 1960 a fossilized archaic human skull was found. The cave had been discovered accidentally only a year earlier (1959) after erosion had left clefts in the rock. "Bejeweled" with impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations and holding an abundance of fossils, the cave soon attracted geologists and paleontologists. After decades of excavations the cave is open to the public and scientific work is documented and presented in an adjacent archaeological museum.
The cave's most prominent fossil specimen, since known among paleoanthropologists as the "Petralona Skull".
The on-site Anthropological Museum of Petralona displayed a selection of the objects that have been found in the cave.
In 2011 the show cave and museum were taken over by the Greek Archeological Service, a government agency. With the end of 2018 the cave and museum were closed. Currently a reopening seems unlikely.
Discovery
The cave was discovered accidentally in 1959 by Fillipos Chatzaridis, a local shepherd who was looking for a spring. In his effort to find a water source he found a small cleft on the slopes of Mount Katsika. Two men were lowered down and later described a large number of chambers and corridors, totaling 8 to 10 meters high with rich and beautiful formations of speleothems (stalactites and stalagmites).
The cave developed during the Mesozoic (Jurassic) limestone, its sediments are divided into several stratigraphic levels. "The rock formations resemble giant cactus, pink pearls, sturdy columns or delicate curtains, and in several places water ponds are fed by stalactite material. Covering an area of , the length of the corridors is about and the temperature throughout the year remains stable at 17 °C (± 1 °C)." The first research of 1959 was undertaken by the Greek speleologist Ioannis Petrocheilos. He found numerous bones of animals, many of them covered with cave coral.
Poulianos complained that excavations on the site were delayed and/or had to be discontinued several times, first in 1967 and the following years in relation to the Greek coup d'état, and again in 1983, when the Ministry of Culture declined to re-issue the excavation concession until "in 1997 the Anthropological Association of Greece, after 15 years of trials, was justified by the Supreme Court and was ordered the continuation of its works in the cave." Poulianos repeatedly accused the Greek government of conspiring to suppress his discoveries, as in 2012 excavation rights were revoked again.
The Anthropological Association of Greece has continued to announce new findings in the cave, such as 4 isolated teeth, then two year old archaic human skeletons, and a great number of fossils of various species.
Petralona skull
According to Aris Poulianos, head of the excavation team since 1965, the Petralona skull was found by a villager, Christos Sariannidis, in 1960. It was sticking to the cave wall in a small cavern of the cave, called "Layer 10" by Poulianos, about 30 cm (12 in) above ground, held by sinter. Its lower jaw is missing and it was "encrusted by brown calcite soon after the death of the individual"
Poulianos (1981) dated the skull to an estimated age of around 700,000 years. Today, most academics who have analyzed the Petralona remains classify the hominid as Homo erectus. However, the Archanthropus of Petralona has also been classified as a Homo heidelbergensis, Neanderthal (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) and as an early generic class of Homo sapiens. A. Poulianos, on the other hand, believes that the Petralona cranium is derived from an independent class of hominids unrelated to Homo erectus.
Fossil fauna
Animal fossils of numerous species were found in the cave:
Fish
indeterminate species
Amphibians
Bufo bufo (Linnaeus) (common toad)
Pelobates fuscus Laurenti (a species of toad)
Reptiles
Testudo graeca Linnaeus (spur-thighed tortoise)
Testudo sp. (giant)
Varanus intermedius Bolkay
Lacerta trilineata (Betriaga) (Balkan green lizard)
Lacerta viridis (Laurenti) (European green lizard)
Lacerta sp. (small) (lizards)
Ophidia indet. (snakes)
Birds
Anser anser Linnaeus (greylag goose)
Aythya ferina Linnaeus (common pochard)
Fulica atra Linnaeus (eurasian coot)
Buthierax pouliani Kretzoi (extinct species of eagle)
Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus (common kestrel)
Alectoris sp. (species of partridges)
Alectoris graeca mediterranea Maurer-Chauvire' (rock partridge)
Perdix jurcsaki (Kretzoi) (a species of partridge)
Scolopacidae indet. (family of waders or shorebirds – sandpipers, curlew, snipe and other associated species)
Larus sp. (a genus of gulls)
Columba oenas ssp. (stock dove)
Columba livia ssp. (rock pigeon)
Columba palumbus Linnaeus (common wood pigeon)
Strix aluco Linnaeus (tawny owl)
Glaucidium Linnaeus (pygmy owls)
Bubo sp. (horned owl and associated species)
Corvus corax Linnaeus (common raven)
Pyrrhocorax graculus vetus Kretzoi (alpine chough)
Turdus sp. (a genus of true thrushes)
Lanius minor Gmelin (lesser grey shrike)
Prunella collaris Scopoli (alpine accentor)
Passeriformes indet. I, II
Mammals
Insectivores
Erinaceus europaeus praeglacialis Brunner (preglaciation European hedgehog )
Sorex minutus Linnaeus (Eurasian pygmy shrew)
Sorex runtonensis (Hinton)
Pachyura etrusca (Savi)
Talpa minuta Freudenberg (a genus of moles)
Primates
Archanthropus europaeus petraloniensis or Homo Heidelbergensis Α. Poulianos
Chiroptera (bats)
Rhinolophus sp. indét. I, II
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum topali Kretzoi (a subspecies of greater horseshoe bat)
Rhinolophus mehelyi Matschie (Mehely's horseshoe bat)
Rhinolophus hipposideros Bechstein (lesser horseshoe bat)
Miniopterus schreibersii Kuhl (common bent-wing bat)
Myotis sp. indét. I, II (genus of mouse-eared bats)
Myotis myotis Borkhausen (greater mouse-eared bat)
Myotis blythi oxygnathus Monticelli
Myotis blythi ssp.
Myotis emarginatus Geoffroy (Geoffroy's bat)
Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl) (Daubenton's bat)
Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus (particoloured bat)
Hypsugo savii Bonaparte (Savi's pipistrelle)
Eptesicus sp. (a genus of bats)
Nyctalus noctula (Schreber) (common noctule)
Pipistrellus (?) sp. (a genus of bats)
Lagomorpha
Lepus terraerubrae (Kretzoi)
Oryctolagus sp. (European rabbit)
Rodents
Urocitellus primigenius daphnae Kretzoi (extinct species of Urocitellus or ground squirrel)
Hystrix sp. (a genus of porcupines)
Gliridae indet. (a genus of dormouse)
Dryomimus eliomyoides arisi Kretzoi
Parasminthus brevidens Kretzoi
Spalax chalkidikae Kretzoi
Apodemus mystacinus crescendus Kretzoi
Mus synanthropus (Mus (Budamys) synanthropus) Kretzoi (a subspecies of Mus)
Allocricetus bursae simplex Kretzoi (a subspecies of hamsters – see Allocricetulus)
Lagurus transiens Janossy (a species of Lagurus – voles, lemmings, and related species)
Eolagurus argyropuloi zazhighini Ν. Poulianos (a genus of rodents)
Arvicola cantiana Heinrich (a species of vole)
Microtus praeguentheri Kretzoi (a species of vole)
Carnivorans
† Canis lupus mosbachensis Soergel (prehistoric wolf species)
† Cuon priscus Thenius (Early Middle Pleistocene dhole or wild dog)
† Xenocyon lycaonoides Kretzoi
† Meles meles atavus ? (Kormos) (primitive European badger)
† Ursus stehlini ? (Kretzoi)
† Ursus deningeri Reichenau
† Crocuta petralonae Kurten
† Pachycrocuta brevirostris Aymard (a subspecies of prehistoric hyenas)
† Pachycrocuta perrieri Croizet & Jobert (a subspecies of prehistoric hyenas)
† Panthera leo fossilis Reichenau (primitive cave lion)
† Panthera gombaszoegensis Kretzoi (European jaguar)
† Panthera pardus Linnaeus (leopard)
† Felis silvestris hamadryas ? (Kurten) (species of wild cat)
† Homotherium sp. (close to the sabertooth tiger)
† Vulpes praeglacialis - (Kormos) a true vulpes fox
Proboscidea
Elephas sp. (genus of elephants)
Perissodactyla
Equus mosbachensis (Reichenau)
Equus hydruntinus ssp. (European ass)
Equus stenonis petraloniensis Tsoukala
Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis Toula (a species of Stephanorhinus – rhinoceros)
Artiodactyla
Sus scrofa ssp.(wild boar)
Dama dama ssp. (fallow deer)
Cervus elaphus ssp. (red deer)
Praemegaceros verticornis ? (Dawkins) (a genus of large deer – see Megaloceros verticornis)
Capra ibex macedonica Sickenberg (a subspecies of alpine ibex)
Bison schoetensacki'' (Freudenberg) (European woodland bison]])
References
External links
Homepage of Cave
The Petralona Cave and Anthropological Museum
Show Caves of Greece: Petralona Cave
Caves of Greece
Landforms of Central Macedonia
Landforms of Chalkidiki
Paleoanthropological sites
Show caves in Greece