A new study suggests that early humans may have once walked directly from Turkey into mainland Europe—thanks to land bridges that are now hidden beneath the sea.
The research, published in The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, highlights the coastal region of Ayvalık in northwestern Turkey.
Today, Ayvalık is known for olive groves and seaside beauty, but hundreds of thousands of years ago it may have been a critical route for humans entering Europe.
For a long time, most scientists believed our species reached Europe mainly through two gateways: the Balkans and the Levant, following paths from Africa through the Middle East.
But the discovery of 138 stone tools at ten sites across Ayvalık tells a different story.
The tools suggest that this area may also have been part of the great migration into Europe.
A land bridge to Europe
During the Ice Age, sea levels were much lower than they are today—sometimes by more than 100 meters.
That meant coastlines looked very different. Islands and peninsulas that we see today were once connected to the mainland. In Ayvalık, this created a continuous landmass stretching into Europe.
Dr. Göknur Karahan, from Hacettepe University, explained: “Our discovery shows that this region once offered a vital land bridge for human movement during the Pleistocene. Sea levels dropped, and areas now underwater became part of a broad landscape where people could live and travel.”
What the team found
The research team, made up entirely of Turkish women archaeologists, uncovered a variety of stone tools.
These included Levallois-style flake tools—advanced implements linked to the Middle Paleolithic period, often associated with both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. They also found large cutting tools such as handaxes and cleavers.
“These are among the most iconic artifacts of the Paleolithic,” Dr. Karahan said. “The presence of these tools shows that Ayvalık was part of wider traditions shared across Africa, Asia, and Europe.”
Finding the first artifacts was an emotional moment for the team. “Holding those tools in our hands, in a landscape where no Paleolithic remains had ever been documented before, was unforgettable,” Dr. Karahan recalled.
The finds suggest that Ayvalık was more than just a temporary stop. It may have been a long-term habitat and an important corridor for people moving between Anatolia and Europe. This challenges the idea that migration routes were limited to northern or inland paths.
Professor Kadriye Özçelik, from Ankara University, explained that paleogeographic reconstructions—studies of how ancient landscapes looked—show how this area could have been central for human dispersal during periods of low sea levels.
The tools also reveal that people living there had diverse skills, using different raw materials like flint and chalcedony, even in areas where geological processes made preservation difficult.
A glimpse into the deep past
The survey that uncovered the tools took place in June 2022, covering 200 square kilometers. The work was not an excavation but a field survey, meaning the team could not be certain of what they might find. Still, the results exceeded expectations.
Despite challenges—muddy terrain and shifting coastlines that often bury or erase evidence—the team uncovered a surprisingly well-preserved set of artifacts. This shows that Ayvalık still holds untapped clues about how humans adapted to changing landscapes.
Dr. Hande Bulut, from Düzce University, says the findings are only the beginning. “Ayvalık shows great potential as a long-term habitat and a key area for studying Paleolithic technology in the eastern Aegean,” she noted.
The team recommends future excavations and multidisciplinary research—using dating methods, stratigraphic studies, and environmental reconstructions—to better understand when people lived here and how they used the landscape.
For now, the tools are powerful reminders of human resilience and adaptability. They show how people thousands of generations ago used land bridges created by the Ice Age to explore new worlds—and how some of those paths are now hidden beneath the waves.
Source: Taylor & Francis.
