Greece and Italy have agreed to deepen their cooperation on the protection of cultural heritage by establishing a joint working group of Greek and Italian scholars. The group will focus on the systematic documentation, identification and conservation of significant ceramic collections-mainly from Attic workshops-that originate from illegal excavations in both countries, amna.gr, has reported.

According to an announcement on Monday by the Greek culture ministry, the initiative to establish the Greek-Italian working group is the result of bilateral contacts between Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and her Italian counterpart Alessandro Giuli, in June 2025 in Athens.

A key step in the process was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the joint management of antiquities previously held by the liquidators of Robin Symes Ltd. The agreement was signed by Olympia Vikatou, Director General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in Greece, and Luigi La Rocca, head of the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Heritage Protection Department.

Practical work began in September 2025 at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and has continued steadily since. Both sides report strong cooperation and mutual trust, with early results already demonstrating the effectiveness of the partnership and further strengthening cultural ties between the two countries.

The project aims to restore fragmented vessels and ultimately return an equal number of fully conserved artifacts to each country under joint scientific supervision.

Source: amna.gr

Almost one in five people in Greece were unable to adequately heat their homes in 2024, according to data released by Eurostat on Monday, placing the country at the top of the European Union for energy-related hardship.

According to ekathimerini.com, the report shows that 19% of Greece’s population faced difficulties keeping their homes warm. Bulgaria recorded the same percentage, while Lithuania followed with 18% and Spain with 17.5%.

Across the European Union as a whole, 9.2% of residents reported problems heating their homes, marking an improvement from 10.6% in 2023 and indicating a modest easing of energy pressures.

By contrast, northern and central European countries reported significantly lower rates. Finland registered the lowest share at 2.7%, while Poland and Slovenia stood at 3.3%. Estonia and Luxembourg also recorded relatively low levels, at 3.6%.

Source: ekathimerini.com

Scientists have recovered what are believed to be the oldest wooden tools ever found, dating back about 430,000 years, from a lakeshore site in the Megalopolis basin of southern Greece. The discovery offers rare insight into early human technology, where wooden implements are seldom preserved, according to apnews.com.

The two artifacts include a slender wooden stick roughly 80 centimetres long, thought to have been used for digging in soft, muddy ground, and a smaller handheld piece made of willow or poplar wood. Researchers suggest the latter may have been used in the shaping of stone tools. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While ancient humans are known to have relied on tools made of stone, bone and wood, wooden objects rarely survive because they decay quickly. Preservation is usually possible only in exceptional conditions such as waterlogged sites, caves or ice. In this case, scientists believe the tools were rapidly buried by sediment and preserved in a wet environment.

Although the wooden tools were not directly dated, other material from the site – including stone tools and cut-marked elephant bones – indicates an age of approximately 430,000 years.

No human remains have yet been found, leaving uncertainty over who made or used the tools. Possible users include Neanderthals or other early human ancestors.

Researchers say the discovery highlights a lesser-known aspect of early human technology and suggests more important finds may still lie hidden at the site, waiting to be uncovered.

Source: apnews.com