Ancient Tools Reveal Potential โฃEarly Human Route From Turkey to Europe Via Lost Land Bridge
AYVALIK, TURKEY – A groundbreaking โคarchaeological finding in Ayvalฤฑk, Turkey, is rewriting the storyโ of โคearly humanโ migration into Europe. Newly unearthed Paleolithic tools suggest Homo sapiens โmay have walked from Anatolia into the continent across a now-submerged land bridge โduring the last Ice Age,โ offeringโ a compelling option to the long-held belief that migration primarily occurredโค through the Levant and the Balkans.
The โฃfindings, published Friday in the journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, reveal a previously โundocumented Paleolithic presence in the northeastern Aegean region. during the Pleistocene Epoch – roughly 2.6 millionโ to 11,700 years ago – lower sea levels created a land connection between modern-day Turkey and mainland Europe. This forgotten pathway could have provided โa crucial route for early humans dispersing across theโ continent.
The research team,led by archaeologists from Hacettepe University,uncovered Paleolithic hand axes,cleavers,and Levallois flake tools – stone implements with sharp edges likely used as knives – inโ the โคAyvalฤฑk area. โขThese artifacts indicate human presence in a landscape dramatically differentโฃ from today’s, one โwhere islands and peninsulas were part of a โcontinuous landmass.
“the presence of these objects in Ayvalฤฑk is especially important, as they provide direct evidence that โคthe โregion was part of widerโ technological traditions shared across Africa,โข Asia, and Europe,”โ said archaeologist Gรถknur Karahan โin โฃa statement.”It was a trulyโ unforgettable moment for us.Holding the first tools in our hands โฃwas both emotional and inspiring.”
For decades, the prevailing theory posited that Homo sapiens primarily reached Europe by traveling through the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean) โand the Balkans. However, the Ayvalฤฑk discoveries challenge this narrative, suggesting a more complex โpattern ofโ dispersal. Theโ last Ice Age, spanning โapproximately 120,000 to 11,500 years ago, dramatically lowered sea levels, exposing vast stretches โof โขland that are now underwater. This created a viable route for early humans to move westward.
Researchers acknowledge that โfurther investigation is neededโค to solidify their theory.โ Substantive artifact dating, detailed stratigraphic excavations, and reconstructions of the ancient environment are crucial next โคsteps. The โคteam also plans to explore โคthe possibility ofโ finding additional artifacts on the Aegean โseabed, possibly revealing further evidence of this lost land bridge and the early humans who traversedโค it.