Early humans reached Europe via an Ice Age land bridge from Turkey
Former humans it took time to finally arrive in current Europe. Common consensus is that some of the first Homo sapiens Trekked has traveled thousands of kilometers from Africa and through the Middle East before reaching the Balkans. However, an archaeological team in Türkiye claims that a major historical re -evaluation is necessary after having discovered nearly 140 artefacts of the Stone Age along the Aegean coast of the country. According to their study published on September 18 in the Journal of Island and Coastal ArchaeologyThe first humans also crossed a submerged land road which once linked Turkey to Europe.
The Aegean coast of Ayvalık in Türkiye is made up of many islands and peninsulas today, but the region seemed very different from 2.58 million – 11,700 years ago during the Pleistocene ice age. During this time, expanses of coastal plains were revealed while sea level fell by around 330 feet. These climate change allowed continuous continuous mass formation, including one that weighed Anatolia and Europe.
“In all these periods, the Ayvalık’s current islands and peninsulas would have formed interior areas in a vast terrestrial environment,” the co-author of the Kadriye Özçelik study said in a press release.
A large part of this prehistoric area is buried underwater today, but not all. Özçelik and his colleagues spent two weeks in June 2022 to investigate 10 muddy sites along the existing ribs on foot. Although the dynamic environment and geology of the northern Entreale creates preservation conditions less than ideal, the team has always discovered evidence of many stone tools from several paleolithic periods. These included climate, Handax, as well as school flakes – complex elements linked to Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.
“These great cutting tools are among the most emblematic artifacts in the Paleolithic and are instantly recognizable today, the same goes for a very important discovery,” said the co-author of the Göknur Karahan study.
Karahan added that the location of these tools offers “direct evidence” that the area was included in a broader technological tradition which extended through Africa, Asia and Europe.
Most of the Pleistocene migratory surveys remain focused on the distant regions of the Aegean coast. But with these discoveries, Özçelik and Karahan argue that a reorientation to include areas like Ayvalık is very late.
“The results have confirmed that Ayvalık – which had never been studied before for its Paleolithic potential – bears vital traces of early human activity,” said Karahan.
In the future, researchers hope that additional excavation work will take place around Ayvalık, in particular stratigraphic projects, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and an analysis of absolute meetings.
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