The stone wall at the entrance of Theopetra Cave in Greece is the oldest ruins in the world – it is believed to be the oldest man made structure ever found. Archaeologists think that the wall may have been built as a barrier to protect the cave’s residents from the cold winds at the height of the last ice age.
Theopetra Cave was first excavated in 1987 and several artifacts have been found at the site such as flint and quartz tools, animal bones, and jewelry from deer teeth. Additionally, there is radio carbon evidence that people inhabited the cave for nearly 50,000 years, covering the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, the Mesolithic, the Neolithic, the Pleistocene, the Holocene periods and beyond.
