Frühe Menschen sind möglicherweise von Türkiye auf das europäische Festland gegangen. Neue Forschungsergebnisse legen nahe, | Entdeckung des paläolithischen Ayvalık: eine strategische Kreuzung in frühen menschlichen Verbreitungen zwischen Anatolien und Europa

Sections of the news release:

>It has long been thought that Homosapien reached Europe primarily coming via the Balkans and the Levant, from Africa into the Middle East.
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>However, with this new discovery of 138 lithic artifacts at 10 sites, across a region of 200km², the suggestion is that long before its olive groves and seaside charm, the northeastern Aegean coast of Ayvalık (now Turkey) was in fact another route for early humans navigating a changing prehistoric world.
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>“Our archaeological discovery has unveiled that this now-idyllic region once potentially offered a vital land bridge for human movement during the Pleistocene era—when sea levels dropped and the now-submerged landscape was briefly exposed,” explains Dr Göknur Karahan, from the Department of Archaeology-Prehistory, at Hacettepe University, in Turkey, who was part of a fully female team of expert archaeologists from the country.
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>“We are very excited and delighted with this discovery. These findings mark Ayvalık as a potential new frontier in the story of human evolution, placing it firmly on the map of human prehistory – opening up a new possibility for how early humans may have entered Europe.
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>During the Ice Age, sea levels dropped by more than 100 meters, exposing vast coastal plains that are now under water. At that time, today’s islands and peninsulas of Ayvalık would have in fact been part of a continuous landmass, forming a natural bridge between Anatolia and Europe.
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>The tools found in this current discovery are right along the present-day coastline and mark evidence of people living and moving across these now-lost landscapes.
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>Factors like environmental processes and the depth of deposits have previously limited the ability to detect and preserve remains in Ayvalık.
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>“In all these periods, the present-day islands and peninsulas of Ayvalık would have formed interior zones within an expansive terrestrial environment,” explains co-author Professor Kadriye Özçelik, from Ankara University.
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>The experts’ key argument hinges on the potential of Ayvalık as a dynamic site for interaction and exchange, facilitating early human movement between the Anatolia peninsula and Europe.
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>Exploring how Anatolia, with specific focus on Ayvalık, and Europe were linked during glacial sea-level low stands offers alternative pathways for how early humans moved around the region beyond dominantly emphasised northern mainland-centred routes.
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>Addressing a gap in the scholarship, the authors’ work provides a new foundation for examining resources and migration routes in which Ayvalık may have featured as part of a mobility corridor.
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>The survey’s yield of tools demonstrates a “consistent use of Levallois technology and flake production… and a diversified toolkit,” whilst all artefacts together offer what the team state are “valuable insights into early human presence, raw material preferences, and technological variability”.
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>“The findings paint a vivid picture of early human adaptation, innovation, and mobility along the Aegean,” Dr Karahan explains.

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Journal link:

[Discovering the Paleolithic Ayvalık: A Strategic Crossroads in Early Human Dispersals Between Anatolia and Europe](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2025.2542777)

Abstract:

>Located on the northeastern Aegean coast, Ayvalık was intermittently exposed as dry land during periods of lowered sea level in the Pleistocene, providing opportunities for early human occupation and mobility. This study explores the Paleolithic potential of Ayvalık, a region in western Anatolia that has remained largely unexamined in Pleistocene archaeology and presents initial findings. Surveys conducted in the region identified 138 lithic artifacts at 10 sites. The most extensive assemblage, attributed to the Middle Paleolithic based on diagnostic core reduction strategies, is dominated by systematic Levallois flaking that resembles technological traits of the Mousterian tradition. In contrast, only a small number of Lower Paleolithic tools, such as handaxes and cleavers, were identified. Upper and/or Epipaleolithic traces are represented by blade and bladelet technologies. Despite preservation challenges due to Ayvalık’s geology and dynamic coastal processes, these findings reveal a previously undocumented Paleolithic presence and establish Ayvalık as a promising locus for future research on early human dispersals in the northeastern Aegean.