Petralona (Greek: Πετράλωνα) is a small locality in Chalkidiki, Macedonia, Greece. It is 6 km northwest of Triglia and 35 km southeast of Thessaloniki. Its altitude is 270 m (890 ft).[3]
Petralona
Πετράλωνα | |
|---|---|
 Petralona cave entrance | |
  Petralona Location within the regional unit  | |
| Coordinates: 40°22′10″N 23°09′33″E / 40.369522°N 23.159120°E[1] | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Central Macedonia |
| Regional unit | Chalkidiki |
| Municipality | Nea Propontida |
| Municipal unit | Triglia |
| Elevation | 270 m (890 ft) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• Community | 316 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Vehicle registration | ΧΚ |
It is famous for the Petralona Cave about 1 km from the village, in which was discovered one of the earliest European humanoids.
Prehistory
editThe Petralona Cave, at the foot of Mount Katsika, was discovered in 1959 by a local looking for a spring. In it was found in 1960 the Petralona skull, extremely well preserved, dated to more than 700,000 years. It was named Archanthropus europaeus petraloniensis (Poulianos, 1976).[4] This is considered as one of the oldest European Homo erectus specimens found so far.
References
edit- ^ These are the coordinates of downtown Petralona from Google Maps. The cave is some distance away from the downtown area.
- ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
- ^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-21.
- ^ (in English) « Pre-Sapiens Man in Greece ». By Aris Nickos Poulianos, Current Anthropology, vol. 22, n° 3, June 1981, pp. 287-288.
External links
edit
Media related to Petralona, Chalkidiki at Wikimedia Commons
Petralona travel guide from Wikivoyage
- An important neolithic site: The Petralona Cave and Anthropological Museum.
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