A human-made structure older than the pyramids in Egypt! Greece is once again the place where a discovery was made, specifically in a cave called Theopetra, where scientists discovered the oldest structure built by humans in the world. It was a stone wall made more than 23,000 years ago, even before the pyramids of Egypt existed!
This cave was used by people for thousands of years and that’s why tools, fire and children’s footprints were found. This is another discovery that shows human beings already knew how to build things and adapt to the environment back then.
So, let’s learn more about this ancient structure, shall we?
The most ancient structure known
There is a special place for the history of mankind and that is Theopetra Cave, located in the Thessaly region. This place has caught scientists and archaeologists’ attention because of a structure built by humans, but not any structure… the most ancient in history!
A stone wall
The structure we are talking about is a stone wall built by humans about 23,000 years ago, which means it was made around 16,000 years before the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. This is one of the most popular monuments in the whole world.
The structure found wasn’t just a regular pile of stones, it is believed the wall was built for a specific reason: partly close the entrance of the cave. Why? Because it’s probable that they wanted to protect themselves from the freezing cold during the Ice Age.
How can scientists estimate the construction’s age?
Scientists used a method called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to estimate when was the last time mineral grains, like dust or sand, were exposed to the sunlight. This helps to know how old buried objects or the ones protected from the sunlight are, so that’s how scientists came to the conclusion of the structure being built around 23,000 years ago.
The use of the cave
This cave is not only important because of the ancient structure found inside, archaeologists have seen that Theopetra was inhabited for more than 13,000 years. This means humans lived there for so long, from the Upper Paleolithic period to the Neolithic.
Archaeologists also found remains from different time periods on the ground of the cave, like: campfires, stone tools and children’s footprints.
What happened after Theopetra?
There wasn’t another human-made structure until thousands of years after the stone wall. What was found next was the Çatalhöyük, located in Turkey, which was a settlement inhabited by the year 7,400 BCE. This was considered one of the first cities to be organized.
From this point, other megalithic structures were found in Europe which were built between 5,000 and 3,000 BCE, like the worldwide famous Stonehenge in England.
Importance of this ancient stone wall
As you can see this structure has changed what archaeologists thought about the first attempts to build stuff. Now, they know that, even earlier than they believed, human beings were intelligent, creative and socially organized to modify their surroundings and build shelters to survive.
Visiting the Theopetra Cave
Currently, the cave is close to the public because it’s an ancient place and it’s full of evidence of ancient civilizations that were able to thin, plan, protect and live in community. So, the cave must be protected, so that archaeologists can keep studying it and learn more about human evolution.
Who would have thought this simple structure at first sight was going to be so important in our time? The huge information we can have from this wall about ancient civilizations is crucial for further scientific studies.
