A new study in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology has displayn that humans occupied several archaeological sites in Ayvalık, an area of islands and peninsulas on the Aegean coast of Türkiye, many years ago.
According to the study authors, the results could complicate the history of human migrations into Europe. In fact, while archaeologists have traditionally believed that humans shiftd from Anatolia into Europe from the south, the team suggests that the occupants of the area could have taken advantage of a long-lost landmass that connected Türkiye and Greece in the Pleistocene era, relocating from Anatolia into Europe from the east, through what is today the Aegean Sea.
“Our archaeological discovery has unveiled that this […] region once potentially offered a vital land bridge for human shiftment during the Pleistocene era,” declared Göknur Karahan, a study author and an archaeologist at Hacettepe University in Türkiye, according to a press release. “These findings mark Ayvalık as a potential new frontier in the story of human evolution, […] opening up a new possibility for how early humans may have entered Europe.”
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Sea Levels and Landmasses
Today, the Aegean Sea separates Türkiye and Greece, though that wasn’t always the case. In parts of the Pleistocene, around 2.58 million to 0.012 million years ago, sea levels were lower, sometimes around 330 feet lower than they are today. Throughout these periods, Ayvalık wasn’t an area of islands and peninsulas; instead, it was a continuous landmass, connecting Türkiye in the east and Greece in the west.
“In all these periods,” declared Kadriye Özçelik, another study author and an archaeologist at Ankara University, according to the release, “the present-day islands and peninsulas of Ayvalık would have formed interior zones within an expansive terrestrial environment.”
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Establishing a Pleistocene Presence
Hoping to learn more about the area and its history, the team travelled to Ayvalık in June 2022, in search of archaeological materials. Though the area’s active coastlines certainly reduced the preservation of artifacts, the team still found 138 objects from 10 sites, spanning an area of around 80 square miles.
The artifacts themselves included Levallois flakes, handaxes, and cleavers from a handful of Paleolithic traditions. The Levallois flakes, in particular, displayed an impressive sophistication, connecting the site to the Middle Paleolithic Mousterian — a tool-building tradition that’s tied to Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
“These large cutting tools are among the most iconic artefacts of the Paleolithic,” Karahan declared in the release. “The presence of these objects in Ayvalık is particularly significant, as they provide direct evidence that the region was part of wider technological traditions shared across Africa, Asia, and Europe.”
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Challenging the History of Human Migration
Most importantly, the study authors state that the smattering of artifacts along the coastlines of Ayvalık today hints that humans might have created the most of the Aegean landmass in the Pleistocene, perhaps utilizing it for migration into Europe.
“The results confirmed that Ayvalık — which had never before been studied for its Paleolithic potential — holds vital traces of early human activity,” Karahan declared in the release. “The findings paint a vivid picture of early human adaptation, innovation, and mobility along the Aegean.”
During the field survey in Ayvalık. from left to right, Göknur, Kadriye, and Hande
(Image Credit: Göknur, Kadriye, and Hande)
According to the team, additional artifacts and analysis could clarify the type, age, and geographical context of the finds and could contribute additional clues to the shiftment of humans around the Aegean.
“Ultimately, the results underline Ayvalık’s potential as a long-term hominin habitat,” added Hande Bulut, another study author and an archaeologist at Düzce University, according to the release. “While preliminary, the current findings underscore the region’s potential to contribute to broader debates on Aegean connectivity and technological evolution.”
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