The formation chambers
Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies and columns along the route.
Sven Dittmar — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sven Dittmar — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carlstaffanholmer — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hombre — CC BY-SA 3.0
**A stalactite cave where the oldest human skull in Greece was found** — about 30 km from Thessaloniki, in western Halkidiki. The cave was discovered by accident in **1959** when villagers were looking for water. **A year later a human skull was found inside, fused to the cave wall** — the **Petralona skull**. ⚠ **It is the oldest known human remains in Greece**, usually attributed to **late *Homo erectus* or *Homo heidelbergensis*** — an ancestor of both modern humans and Neanderthals. ⚠ **Its age is hotly disputed**, between roughly **200,000** and **700,000 years**. ✅ **The cave itself is beautiful**: chambers of stalactites, stalagmites, stone draperies and columns, along a route approaching a kilometre. ⚠ Visits are **by guide and on fixed tours** only.
Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies and columns along the route.
Where it was found fused to the cave wall.
Displays on the cave and its animal and human finds.
Petralona, 63080 Halkidiki, Greece
**Because the context of its discovery was compromised from the start — and dating depends on context.** ✅ **The first problem**: the skull was found in **1960** **fused to the cave wall** within calcite deposits, **not in a methodically excavated archaeological layer**. **Without a clear stratum it is hard to tie to a specific date.** ⚠ **The second problem**: **the skull was moved from its original position** in the first days before specialists documented it — **so part of the evidence was lost permanently**. ✅ **The dating methods used**: analysis of the surrounding **calcite deposits**, the **extinct fauna** present in the cave (indirect evidence of the period), **electron spin resonance** and other physical techniques — ⚠ **and they produced widely divergent results**, from roughly 200,000 to 700,000 years. ⚠ **A sharp scientific dispute** between research teams over method and results ran for decades on top of that. ✅ **What is agreed**: **the skull is very old** and belongs to an **archaic human** predating modern humans, **and it is the oldest found in Greece** — which alone is enough for its importance.