Megalopolis - lignite mines of Megalopolis - 2023

Field and geoarchaeological survey in Megalopolis. 
The Ephorate of the Palaeoanthropology and Speleology, and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, under the management of Dr E. Panagopoulou-Karambela (EPS), Dr P. Karkana (ASCSA) and Prof. K. Harvati(University of Tübingen), report the results of the five-year field and geoarchaeological survey in Megalopolis in Arcadia. 

The finds from the five, newly discovered places in the lignite mines of Megalopolis give valuable and unique information about the human evolution, at an area that had received little scholarly attention in the past. The preliminary study of the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic indicators show that all these places belong to the ice-age environments of the Middle Pleistocene. These finds suggest that the area of Megalopolis constituted one of the most south ecological shelters of Europe during the Ice-Age.

The earliest position is Kyparissia 4, which dates roughly 700,000 years ago and is located about 70 meters beneath the ground's surface. Findings include stone artefacts of the Lower Paleolithic Age, including remains of extinct species, such as a giant deer (Praemegaceros), hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephant, and a tooth of a cercopithecus Macaques.

The latest, stromatographically, position is Kyparissia 3. Most findings were elephant bones, associated with stone tools. In the position Marathousa 2, which dates about 450,000 years ago, part of a hippopotamus' skeleton was found. The skeleton's bones have traces of cuts and were accompanied by remains of stone tools. This is rare evidence of hippopotamus exploitation in Pleistocene Europe.

Also important is the position Tripotamos 4, about 15 meters below the surface.It dates about 400,000 years ago and is characterised by a large concentration of stone tools, which attest to new tecniques of stone-working, making it an important place to study technological developments during the Lower Palaeolithic Age. 

Finally, the position Choremi (Χωρέμη) 7 is found 8 meters below the surface and dates about 280,000 years ago. It includes primarily fragments of bones, mainly from deers, some of which show signs of human processing.