A journey to Tilos Island of dwarf elephants
Tilos Island emerges northwest of Rhodes, between the islands of Nisyros and Halki, inviting us on a journey back to the paleontological era, when dwarf elephants of just 1.20-1.50 m lived on the island. Visit the small yet carefully curated Paleontological Exhibition of Dwarf Elephants "Nikolaos Symeonidis" in Megalo Chorio and travel back in time. The exhibition houses the findings from the excavations initiated by Professor Nikolaos Symeonidis in the Charkadio cave, in Messaria, in the early 1970s.
The exhibition staff are happy to answer all your questions, although the exhibits speak for themselves. On the walls you will see photographs from the time when Symeonidis and his team discovered over 15,000 fossilized bones of Europe's youngest elephant population. They had arrived from Asia Minor about 50,000 years ago, during a time when the island’s geomorphology was very different from today. They had lived on Tilos around 3,700-4,000 BC, before they became extinct.
The historical context is comprehensive, including references to similar cases of dwarf elephants found on other Greek islands, such as Crete. Display cases contain fossilized bones of dwarf elephants, bones of hippos, deer, turtles and other mammals, fragments of tusks, as well as anthropological material, vases, sculptures, reliefs and figurines from antiquity to the Hellenistic era.
It is also worth visiting the Charkadio cave, which is located a short distance away.
The exhibition staff are happy to answer all your questions, although the exhibits speak for themselves. On the walls you will see photographs from the time when Symeonidis and his team discovered over 15,000 fossilized bones of Europe's youngest elephant population. They had arrived from Asia Minor about 50,000 years ago, during a time when the island’s geomorphology was very different from today. They had lived on Tilos around 3,700-4,000 BC, before they became extinct.
The historical context is comprehensive, including references to similar cases of dwarf elephants found on other Greek islands, such as Crete. Display cases contain fossilized bones of dwarf elephants, bones of hippos, deer, turtles and other mammals, fragments of tusks, as well as anthropological material, vases, sculptures, reliefs and figurines from antiquity to the Hellenistic era.
It is also worth visiting the Charkadio cave, which is located a short distance away.
