Clan of the Cave Bears in real life!  American author Jean Auel made a career and several novels about the emergence of modern humans from the clash with Neanderthal types in prehistoric times—or is that still going on.

Anyway Greece has now opened to the public one of the sites where these events actually happened:  Theopetra Cave in Trikala prefecture near the famous Meteora.  This site, well known in archaeological circles, has been excavated since 1987.  Artefacts have been found dating from between 50,000 BC and 3,000 BC.  They include stone tools from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, pottery from the Neolithic, plants and seeds that indicate diet as well as skeletons from 15,000, 9,000 and 8,000 BC.  Rich diggings by anyone’s standards.

The cave has a large entrance that opens to a large rectangular chamber of 500 sq.mtrs (5,000 sq.ft.).  It is the only known site that contains evidence of two major cultural transitions:  the replacement of Neanderthals by Homo sapiens and the change from hunter-gathering to farming.

So Greece is not only the birthplace of democracy and western civilization; it is also a home town of humans.  Wouldn’t you like to attend a family reunion here?

Facts from ANA