Theopetra Cave is formed in Cretaceous limestones located close to Theopetra village of the Meteora municipality. It is situated on the northeast side of a limestone rock formation located 3 km south of Kalambaka, at an altitude of almost 330m above sea level and 100m above the valley of Pinios River. The cave’s shape is almost quadrilateral with small niches (karst conduits) on its periphery, and it has an area of almost 500m. The entrance is arched, with an opening of 17m and a height of 3m, allowing abundant natural light to enter its interior.The site has become increasingly important as human presence is attributed to all periods of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and beyond, bridging the Pleistocene with the Holocene. Radiocarbon dating shows human presence at least 50,000 years ago. Several features of the cave indicate human activity.Theopetra Cave contains one of the longest archaeological sequences in Greece, comprising Middle and Upper Paleolithic as well as Mesolithic and Neolithic cultural remains. The records have shown important palaeoenvironmental data based on sedimentary features and botanical remains. Findings include a man-made stone wall that is still standing today, which was built in approximately 21,000 BC. It is the oldest known example of a man-made structure. The wall is thought to have been built to protect its residents from cold winds at the height of the last ice age.
