Franchthi Cave (or Frankhthi cave, Greek) in the Peloponnese, in the southeastern Argolid, is a cave overlooking the Argolic Gulf opposite the Greek village of Koilada.
The cave was occupied from the palaeolithic c. 20,000 BP (and possibly earlier) through the Mesolithic and Neolithic, being abandoned about 3000 BC (Middle Neolithic). It is one of the very few settlements in the world that shows continuous human occupation for more than 20,000 years.
Obsidian items from the cave have been traced to the island of Melos 80 miles away by sea, which indicates long distance sea travel. Around 6000 BC evidence of domesticated animals and plants (emmer and einkron) appears in the archaeological record at the cave.
