The 43 Neolithic-era skeletons found in the Cave of Theopetra, Thessaly that were analyzed recently along with plant and animal remains confirmed that the community there lived mostly on cereals, hunted large and small animals but also had domesticated animals including dogs, ANA reports.
According to archaeologist Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika, who first started excavating the cave 34 years ago, the stratigraphy of the cave shows two things: that its origin dates to at least 130,000 years ago and that it contains signs of habitation throughout the Stone Age, from 130,000 years ago through the Neolithic times, from about 6500 to 4000 BC, when Thessaly saw more communities living outside caves.
The cave lies in the fertile region of Thessaly, 3km before Kalabaka on the road from Trikala, and at 300m sea level. It is close to a tributary of Pinios River and looks out toward Meteora. The entrance is 3m high and 17m wide and receives a lot of light. The cave appears to have been abandoned, either after rock eroded by water started breaking down in the interior or because more communities started being built out in the open space. (The climate during the human occupation eras included three ice ages and two warm periods, the first dated to around 60,000 years ago.)
Neolithic residents of the cave ate wheat and cultivated barley, olives, lentils, and wild pear, among others. They ate some meat, mostly from the domesticated sheep and goat (which account for 60% of the bones found), and also kept cattle, pigs, and one dog. About 11% of bones found belong to deer, wild boar, bear, hare, wildcat, and badger, all of which were hunted. Bones from a bear, for example, still bear knife marks.
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