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Apidima Cave (, ''Spilaio Apidima'') is a complex of five caves located on the western shore of
Mani Peninsula The Mani Peninsula (), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (), is a geographical and cultural region in the Peloponnese of Southern Greece and home to the Maniots (), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans. The capital ci ...
in southern Greece. A systematic investigation of the cave has yielded
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
and ''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
'' fossils from the
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
era. shows a mixture of modern human and primitive features and has been dated to be more than 210,000 years old, older than a Neanderthal skull ("Apidima 2") found at the cave, which per some interpretations makes Apidima 1 the oldest proof of ''Homo sapiens'' living outside Africa,BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
''. 10 July 2019. the second oldest being the
maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...
from Misliya Cave in Mount Carmel, Israel, with a maximum age of about 190,000 years ago. Apidima 1 is more than 150,000 years older than previous ''H. sapiens'' finds in Europe.


Description

The Apidima Cave complex consists of five karstic caves (previously reported as four small caves) formed in the
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
cliffside on the west shore of the
Mani Peninsula The Mani Peninsula (), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (), is a geographical and cultural region in the Peloponnese of Southern Greece and home to the Maniots (), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans. The capital ci ...
in southern Greece. Today the caves open on the face of a large sea cliff and are accessible only by boat,s the sea level went lower by more than , and several seashore caves around the world, today submerged or situated at the wave zone—Apidima Cave belonging to the latter category—rose well above the water surface and were occupied by early people. The complex consists of four small caves, designated "A", "B", "C" and "D". It was formed by erosion within the
Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...
to Late
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
limestone of depth , from above sea level, in a vertical zone of depth . The development of the caves is due to the vertical strikes of the limestone, while the horizontal opening is made by the sea.


Archaeology


Research programme

The scientific research programme at Apidima began in 1978 and is being conducted by the National Archaeological Museum of Greece in collaboration with the Laboratory of Historical Geology-Palaeontology of
Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...
, the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploitation and the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...
.


Findings

Approximately 20,000 bones, bone fragments, and teeth from various fauna have been collected since 1978 from this site by Theodore Pitsios and his team. There are a few animal specimens with probable traces of butchering. The two ''Homo'' fossils were excavated from the thick and cohesive
breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...
above sea level. In addition to fossils, researchers located several tools, including handaxes and tools produced from local flint, along the perimeters of ''poljes'' at the Kokkinopilos and Alonaki locations.


''Homo'' fossils


Finding of fossils

Researchers uncovered two significant fossils in Apidima Cave "A" in 1978. The two fossils are now referred to as Apidima 1 and Apidima 2.
Stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s were found in all four caves. Research published in July 2019 indicates that the Apidima 2 skull fragment (designated LAO 1/S2) has
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
, and using uranium-thorium dating, was found to be more than 170,000 years old. The Apidima 1 skull fossil (designated LAO 1/S1) was found to be older, dated—using the same method—to more than 210,000 years old. As of 1999, Theodore Pitsios, a Professor of Physical Anthropology and Faculty member of Medicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, estimated that over 30 thousand fossils had been collected from Apidima Cave with the bones of six or more individuals having been found. Of note within these collected fossils are the two crania imbedded in breccia rock in different layers of stratigraphy and were dated to have been deposited during all periods of the Pleistocene era. In addition to hominid fossils, tools made from both bone and stone were located along with the bones of animals indicative of hunting practices. In addition to these fossils and tools, evidence of fire use was also found.


Apidima I

Apidima I consists of the posterior portion of the cranium which does show signs of erosion. This specimen is suspected of being of similar taxonomic designation as Apidima II though, as of 2019, no testing had been done Apidima 1 has been found to have more modern features but still presents some older, more primitive features. In a 2019 article written by Katerina Harvati (et.al.) for Nature Journal, it was hypothesized that Apidima 1 may be an early example of Neanderthal prior to the changes in the overall cranial structures, but after the facial features had been developed. Apidima 1 is estimated to date to more than 200 thousand years ago.


Apidima II

The second crania, labeled Apidima 2 is more representative of
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
. A continuous and large brow ridge is present consistent with measurements with Neanderthal fossils found elsewhere. It is estimated that Apidima 2 to be dated more than 150 thousand years ago. The fossilized cranium appeared to have multiple fractures, as well as malformation of the left side of the skull, suggestive of sediment pressure which occurred after having been deposited. Apidima 2 has undergone analysis via CT scan in which the cranium was virtually reconstructed. Scientists used the digital nature of this analysis to reconstruct the specimen without fractures and breaks in order to visualize a clearer view of one of the earliest European hominid samples to date.


Homo sapiens & Homo Neanderthalis hypothesis

In a 2019 study a research team proposed a hypothesis these Hominids present a mixture of modern human and primitive features. This makes Apidima 1 the oldest evidence of ''Homo sapiens'' outside Africa,Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine * "Discover", a song by Chris Brown from his 2015 album ''Royalty'' Businesses and bran ...
''. July 10, 2019. more than 150,000 years older than previous ''H. sapiens'' finds in Europe. The lead researcher, Katerina Harvati, summarized, "Our results suggest that at least two groups of people lived in the Middle
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
in what is now southern Greece: an early ''Homo sapiens'' population, followed by a Neanderthal population." Harvati said that the team would attempt to extract
ancient DNA Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient sources (typically Biological specimen, specimens, but also environmental DNA). Due to degradation processes (including Crosslinking of DNA, cross-linking, deamination and DNA fragmentation, fragme ...
from the fossils, but that she was not optimistic about finding any. If sufficient specimens can be obtained, a palaeoproteomic analysis of ancient proteins may also be done on the fossils.


Homo erectus hypothesis

In a 2020 publication another research group concluded that the anatomical features of both skulls show they can be attributed to the group of evolved European ''
Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
'' hominins, with some early Neanderthal features, similar to the skulls of
Sima de los Huesos The Sima de los Huesos hominins are a 430,000 year old population of "pre-Neanderthals" from the archaeological site of Atapuerca, archeological site of Atapuerca, Spain. They are in the "Neanderthal clade", but fall outside of ''Homo neanderthal ...
,
Swanscombe Swanscombe /ˈswɔnzkəm/ is a town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford. History Prehistory Bone fragments and to ...
, Biache-Saint-Vaast and Lazaret, but they can be differentiated from the classical Neanderthals.Marie-Antoinette de Lumley, Gaspard Guipert, Henry de Lumley, Natassa Protopapa, Théodoros Pitsios, Apidima 1 and Apidima 2: Two anteneandertal skulls in the Peloponnese, Greece, L'Anthropologie, Volume 124, Issue 1, 2020, 102743, ISSN 0003-5521, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2019.102743.


Animal fossil findings

Fossils of large animals have been found at the Kalamakia site, north of Apidima. These findings consisted of Rhino, elephant, deer, goat, and sheep species. The deer and caprid species fossils are considered to have been food items. At Apidimia, Caves B and C held fossils of
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
(''Panthera pardus)'' and
European Badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a w ...
''(Meles meles),'' whereas Caves C and D contained fossils from multiple
lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
(''Lynx lynx''). Cave C also provided fossil remains of the European Wildcat species (''Felis silvestris'') and
red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
(Vulpes vulpes), as well as remains of the beech marten (''Martes foina'').


See also

*
Early human migrations Early human migrations are the earliest migrations and expansions of archaic and modern humans across continents. They are believed to have begun approximately 2 million years ago with the early expansions out of Africa by ''Homo erectu ...
*
List of human evolution fossils The following tables give an overview of notable finds of Hominini, hominin fossils and Skeleton, remains relating to human evolution, beginning with the formation of the tribe Hominini (the divergence of the Chimpanzee–human last common ancest ...
* Misliya cave *
Prehistory of Southeastern Europe The prehistory of Southeast Europe, defined roughly as the territory of the wider Southeast Europe (including the territories of the modern countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Monten ...


References


External links


Apidima Cave in ManiHuman Timeline (Interactive)
– Smithsonian,
National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...
(August 2016). {{Authority control Ancient caves of Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Peloponnese (region) Caves of Greece Landforms of Peloponnese (region) Neanderthal sites Paleoanthropological sites Prehistoric Greece