Already since the beginning of the 1960s Thessaly has been a field of research thanks to the work of Professors D. Theocharis and Vlad. Milojcc. A plethora of open-air sites came to light during repeated surveys which were conducted in the late 1980s by C. Runnels, head of an American expedition. The sites are located along the Pineios river as well as in the south-eastern, northern and western regions of the plain of Thessaly.Human habitation is assigned to the Middle and Late Palaeolithic era and there are certain indications pointing even to the last phase of the Early Palaeolithic era.
Along with all these survey finds, the excavation of the Palaeolithic deposits of Theopetra cave by the Ephorate of Paiaeoanthropology-Spelaeology of the Greek Ministry of Culture will contribute greatly to our knowledge of the Palaeolithic period, not only of the area but of the entire country as well. Theopetra is one of the few Palaeolithic sites of Greece, where habitation has undoubtedly been continued from the Middle to the Late Palaeolithic era and exists in an unbroken line up to the Neolithic period.
