Scientists Intrigued by Non-Human Skull Embedded in Cave Wall

"In this new study, the Human Paleontology Institute team, led by archaeologist Christophe Falguères, used a remarkably simple technique to offer a more concise time frame for the Petralona skull. Using calcite samples directly from the skull itself and from the deposits surrounding it, the researchers used a technique known as uranium-series dating that measures the decay rate of uranium isotopes as they morph into thorium over time."

"As Archaeology Magazine explains, this bizarre, non-human noggin has fascinated and frustrated scientists ever since it was discovered in 1960, sans lower jaw and encrusted with the mineral calcite, by a villager in the nearby port city of Thessaloniki. For decades, researchers fiercely debated the age of the skull in hopes of determining what Homo genus it came from - because, as shown below, it doesn't resemble any other known hominin cranium."

A nearly horned hominin cranium was found fused to a cave wall with a stalagmite protruding from its top in the Petralona cave, Macedonia, Greece. The skull was discovered in 1960 by a villager, lacked its lower jaw, and was encrusted with calcite. Age estimates previously ranged from about 170,000 to 700,000 years, producing ongoing debate over its placement in the Homo genus. A team from France's Institut de Paléontologie Humaine led by Christophe Falguères analyzed calcite from the skull and surrounding deposits using uranium-series dating to measure uranium-to-thorium decay and constrain the cranium's age.

Read at Futurism