Ancient human skull discovered in Greece rewrites human evolutionary timeline

Researchers from France, China, the UK, and Greece revealed that the Petralona cranium is at least 286,000 years old, placing it firmly in the Middle Pleistocene era.

A new scientific study has shed fresh light on one of Europe’s most important human fossils, the Petralona cranium, discovered in a cave in northern Greece more than six decades ago. Long the subject of debate, the fossil’s true age has now been pinned down with unprecedented precision, offering crucial insights into human evolution.

Researchers from France, China, the UK, and Greece used advanced uranium-series dating techniques to analyze calcite that had formed directly on the skull. Their findings, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, reveal that the Petralona cranium is at least 286,000 years old, placing it firmly in the Middle Pleistocene era. Earlier attempts at dating had produced wildly conflicting results, ranging from 170,000 to nearly 700,000 years.

“This fossil has always been central to discussions of European prehistory,” said lead author Christophe Falguères of the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine in Paris. “For the first time, we have a reliable minimum age that allows us to place Petralona in its proper evolutionary context.”

The skull itself is a striking specimen: nearly complete, with features that set it apart from both Neanderthals and modern humans. Many anthropologists group it with Homo heidelbergensis, a species thought to represent the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans. The new dating strengthens the case that Petralona belonged to a distinct, more primitive human population that coexisted alongside emerging Neanderthals.

The study also challenges assumptions about the fossil’s discovery. For years, scholars believed the skull had been cemented to a cave wall. But the new analysis shows that the calcite coating the cranium is younger than formations on the walls, suggesting the fossil may have been moved or deposited in the chamber before being sealed in stone.

Location of Petralona Cave in the Chalkidiki area, Greece. A view of the karst including the main localities (B section, A1-A2 pit, Mausoleum where the cranium was found). The yellow part corresponds to the first explored area of the karst. (credit: JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION)

Beyond resolving a long-standing mystery, the findings reshape our understanding of human prehistory in southeastern Europe. They suggest that archaic populations, related to or within Homo heidelbergensis, were still present in the region as recently as 300,000 years ago, overlapping with the Neanderthal lineage.

“The Petralona cranium reminds us that Europe’s human story is not a straight line,” said Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum, a co-author of the study. “It’s a branching, complex history, with different populations existing side by side.”

Scientists are continuing to further their understanding of the fossil record; the Petralona skull becomes a critical key in understanding human evolution.

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