Oldest evidence of humans in Greece is 700,000 years old, a quarter of a million years older than previous record

Published

2 years ago

June 12, 2023

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Several prehistoric sites in Greece reveal that our human ancestors hunted hippos and elephants between 280,000 and 700,000 years ago. The oldest site pushes back the earliest known hominin presence in the region by up to 250,000 years.

It’s not clear which ancient hominin (a term that includes humans and our ancestors) used the site, but researchers suspect it was archaic Homo sapiens.

Sitting about 124 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Athens, the Megalopolis Basin in Arcadia hosts one of the largest lignite mines in Greece. Although archaeologists have known for decades that the site harbored ancient fossils, little targeted excavation had been carried out. Recently, though, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens launched a five-year excavation to better understand the context of the Megalopolis sites.

Mining activity revealed five new sites in the basin, which “exposed the fossil-bearing sediments to a much greater depth, thus revealing older remains,” Katerina Harvati, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany and co-project lead, told Live Science in an email.

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The most recent site, Choremi 7, dating to around 280,000 years ago, yielded stone tools as well as deer bones with evidence of cut marks. Tripotamos 4, at 400,000 years old, had a large concentration of stone tools and evidence of new methods of stone working compared to older sites. These sites are important for understanding the technological development of the Lower Paleolithic period (3.3 million to 300,000 years ago), according to a statement from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sport.

At a site called Marathousa 2 dating to 450,000 years ago, the researchers discovered evidence that ancient human relatives were killing and presumably eating hippopotamuses, as part of a hippo skeleton had stone tool cut marks on it. A nearby site, Marathousa 1, shows evidence of elephant butchering.

An ancient deer skull, as found at Kyparissia site 4. (Image credit: Copyright YPPOA (Greek Culture Ministry))

“The cut marked hippopotamus bones from Marathousa 2, which were also found together with a lithic artifact, are the only such findings from the Middle Pleistocene of southeast Europe,” Harvati said. The team found that megafaunal exploitation was likely common during this time period.

A surface survey showing the artificial levels of the Megalopolis lignite mine in Greece. (Image credit: Copyright YPPOA (Greek Culture Ministry))

About 230 feet (70 meters) below the surface, the team discovered the site of Kyparissia 4. Dating to 700,000 years ago, it is the oldest archaeological site from the Lower Palaeolithic era in Greece. The researchers found numerous stone tools as well as remains of extinct species of giant deer, hippo, rhino, elephant and macaque. When glaciers covered much of Europe during a major ice age between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago, this region would have been ice-free.

The sites Kyparissia 3 and 4 in the stratigraphic sequence of the lignites. (Image credit: Copyright YPPOA (Greek Culture Ministry))

“Our research reconstructing the paleoenvironment of the basin has indicated that it would have functioned as a refugium during Ice Age conditions,” Harvati said, “allowing animal and plant populations — but also hominin groups — to survive during harsh glacial times when they would have disappeared from more northern parts of the European continent.”RELATED STORIES—150-year-old mystery of strange half-circles from Paleolithic site in France finally solved

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The “outstanding and highly unusual preservation conditions” in the Megalopolis basin mean that the team is recovering not only stone tools and fossils but also remains of small animals, wood, plant remains and even insects, according to Harvati. The basin has provided evidence that spans almost the entire middle Pleistocene, an important discovery considering southeastern Europe is relatively unexplored for this time period.

“The Megalopolis basin therefore provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of human evolution in Europe,” Harvati said.

Business

Trump trade war: US central bank cuts growth outlook

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2 hours ago

March 19, 2025

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Trump trade war: US central bank cuts growth outlook

The US central bank has slashed its expectations for economic growth this year as it eyes challenges on several fronts amid Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

The Federal Reserve announced, as was widely expected, that it would keep its main interest rate at its current target range level of 4.25%-4.5% following the latest meeting of its Federal Open Markets Committee.

The statement that accompanied that decision showed slightly elevated expectations for inflation but also a forecast that the annual rate of economic growth this year had been cut from 2.1% to 1.7%.

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The reduction partly reflected weaker consumer spending, the Fed said, adding that could be partly explained by the threat of rising prices due to the tariff agenda.

The central bank admitted rising uncertainty over its dual mandate which covers employment as well as inflation.

At a news conference to accompany the decision, Fed chair Jay Powell said: “The economy is strong overall”, adding that labour market conditions were “solid”.

But on the question of rising goods inflation he said: “A good part of it is coming from tariffs”, adding that it was too soon to split non-tariff and tariff-related inflation in the data.

The core message was that it was too early to predict the impact overall.

Policymakers said risks had increased, with a near unanimous sentiment in saying the outlook for the year was muddled but it stopped short of directly blaming the protectionist policies being pursed by the Trump White House.

The Fed revealed its hand less than 24 hours before the Bank of England was expected to follow suit by also holding off on any fresh rate cut amid risks of surging prices due to the growing trade war uncertainty.

The Fed meeting took place against a backdrop of mounting concern among financial markets and economists that the trade war could lead the world’s largest economy into recession.

Stock market values are well down on where they started the year, with the broad-based S&P 500 losing $4trn in the space of less than a month at one stage as the tariff threats intensified.

The dollar remains around five cents down against both the pound and euro while US government borrowing costs also remain elevated.

Stocks rebounded somewhat on the Fed’s update as it signalled no immediate pressure for a policy shift, with the statement signalling that two rate cuts remained on the cards over the remainder of 2025.

But US economists are particularly worried about the trade war involving the country’s nearest neighbours Mexico and Canada – yet to get into full swing as had been threatened due to several suspensions by the Trump administration.

The main domestic concern is that tit-for-tat tariffs will hammer cross-border supply chains and wider trade, leaving US businesses drowning under a mountain of red tape and higher costs, the latter being widely tipped to be passed on down supply chains and ultimately hitting consumers.

Trade war hostilities between the three are set to ramp up from 2 April – a day after the EU retaliates to US steel and aluminium tariffs with duties being applied to US goods worth €26bn.

Mr Trump has already threatened to respond with 200% tariffs on EU alcohol imports including wine and spirits.

Environment

South Korea just opened its largest EV charging hub

Published

3 hours ago

March 19, 2025

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South Korea just opened its largest EV charging hub

South Korea just got its largest outdoor EV fast-charging hub, and it’s at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang. The new hub, built by charging network Water, features 46 fast chargers capable of juicing up everything from electric cars to buses and trucks.

KINTEX hosts around 5.8 million visitors a year, so a major charging hub like this makes a lot of sense. Water installed eight 200 kW and 38 100 kW EV chargers. The station is split across two sections of an outdoor parking lot near Exhibition Center 2.

Drivers can easily access the chargers from Ilsan Lake Park, and there are no height restrictions, meaning electric buses and trucks won’t have to struggle to find a compatible spot. The hub is also topped with Water’s signature wooden canopy, which not only makes it easier to spot but also lowers the construction carbon footprint compared to steel or concrete structures.

Dongyoon Lee, Water’s director of business development, says the 46 chargers eliminate the hassle of hunting for multiple stations and provide a one-stop fast-charging experience. Even during peak hours, wait times should be minimal.

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KINTEX has nearly 7,000 parking spaces, and South Korean regulations require that at least 5% of spaces at large public venues be designated for EV charging. This new hub goes above and beyond that requirement, which is especially needed as KINTEX expands and some parking areas close.

The project is part of a broader push to improve Goyang’s green infrastructure. Water was chosen last April to install 107 chargers across 14 locations in the city, and the entire network is expected to be up and running by the end of the month.

Daewon Yu, managing partner at Water, calls KINTEX a prime location for charging infrastructure and notes that “the hub will also support green mobility initiatives in Goyang by serving EV owners, taxis, buses, and other commercial vehicles.”

Water is the EV charging network brand of Brite Energy Partners, a South Korean renewable energy infrastructure company backed by BlackRock.

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Environment

Hyundai caught testing one of China’s hottest selling EVs

Published

4 hours ago

March 19, 2025

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Hyundai caught testing one of China's hottest selling EVs

Is Hyundai taking a page from China for its upcoming electric vehicles? The new EV taking China by storm was caught with testing plates near Hyundai’s global R&D hub.

Is Hyundai testing China’s tech for its upcoming EVs?

If you haven’t heard of the Xiaomi SU7 yet, it likely won’t be long before you come across it on X, Instagram, or some other social media.

Known as the “Apple of China” for its smartphones and other tech, Xiaomi launched its first EV last year, the SU7.

On Wednesday, the company announced it delivered its 200,000th SU7 in less than a year, fittingly in a vibrant Brilliant Magenta color.

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The SU7 is quickly climbing up the sales charts, even outpacing the Tesla Model 3 in China, with over 22,000 units delivered in January alone. In comparison, Tesla sold around 8,000 Model 3s in the first month of 2025 in China.

Xiaomi now expects to sell 350,000 EVs this year. If it can, it would be more than Volkswagen, Audi, BMW Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche combined, according to Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper.

It looks like Hyundai is looking to get a step ahead. A Xiaomi SU7 was recently spotted by an AutoSpy user with a Hwaseong testing plate near Hyundai’s Namyang R&D Center, its global R&D hub.

Like Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, powering the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6, the SU7 has 800V fast charging capabilities. Powered by a 101 kWh battery pack, the range-topping Max trim has a massive 810 km (503 miles) CLTC range rating.

The high-performance SU7 Ultra, launched last month, packs up to 1,526 horsepower from three electric motors, good for a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) sprint in just 1.98 seconds.

Xiaomi’s electric sedan starts at 215,900 yuan, or just under $30,000, while the flagship Ultra trim costs 529,900 yuan ($73,000). Within two hours of launching, the flagship variant secured over 10,000 orders, topping Xiaomi’s annual goal.

In less than two weeks, Hyundai will launch its new Pleos brand, which will introduce new tech and software for upcoming Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis vehicles. Could we see some of China’s tech trickle in?

Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, AutoSpy

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