Scientists believe they're close to solving an ancient mystery involving a strange hominin skull, neither Neanderthal nor human, that was found fused to a cave wall — with a stalagmite sticking out of the top, to complete the eerie scene — in Macedonia, Greece.

In a new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution, researchers from France's Institut de Paléontologie Humaine (or Human Paleontology Institute in English) claim they've been able to place an age on the "Petralona cranium," which was named after the cave system where the mysterious, almost-horned skull, as seen below, was discovered some 65 years ago.

As Archaeology Magazine explains, this bizarre, non-human noggin has fascinated and frustrated scientists ever since it was discovered in 1960, sans lower jaw and encrusted

See Full Page