Cyclops Cave (Youra)

The Cyclops Cave, also called the Cave of the Cyclops, is on the uninhabited islet of Youra (or Gioura), in the Northern Sporades, (20 mile from Alonissos) off the coast of Thessaly in Greece. It is the location of an archaeological site with evidence of human occupation from the Mesolithic through the Late Neolithic periods. There is also later material, such as Roman lamps.

The site was excavated beginning in 1992 and continuing into 1996 by a team led by Adamantios Sampson, Inspector of Antiquities, during a project whose more general purpose was to clarify the prehistoric occupation sequence in the area, with an emphasis on the pre-pottery sequences from the Late Pleistocene. Ceramic fragments of painted pottery dated to 6000 BC – 5500 BC were found. Other evidence of human occupation includes the remains of sheep and goats. Excavation of layers of the Mesolithic period found ash and charcoal and an abundance of animal, bird, and fish bones, shells, scales, and a human skull. In this layer were also tools such as millstones and grinders, fish-hooks made from bone and other bone tools. There were also a small number of tools made from obsidian and siliceous rocks.