The terrestrial bridge you have never heard of

For many of us, when we think of terrestrial bridges, we tend to think of the Bering terrestrial bridge (in fact more a swamp), which ancient humans crossed to reach North America from modern Siberia during the last glacial period. But there may have been another crucial stretch of land that helped early human migration – this time, far from the continent, on the Anatolian coast.

It is the new major discovery of a team of Turkish archaeologists who have discovered more than 100 stone artefacts from ten different sites along the peninsula. They indicate that a terrestrial bridge, now underwater, used to exist between the western edge of Asia and Europe, allowing humans to move between these regions. If their theory takes place, it would reveal a chapter previously unknown to the history of human migration at a critical moment in our evolution and our development as a species.

An unexplored prehistoric region

“This study explores the Paleolithic potential of Ayvalık, a region of Western Anatolia which remained largely not examined in the archeology of the Pleistocene,” wrote researchers in their study, which was published on Friday in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. “These results reveal a Paleolithic presence previously undocumented and establish Ayvalık as a promising place for future research on the first human dispersions in the northeast of the Entreale.”

The Paleolithic period – more than 2.6 million to 12,000 years – and the Pleistocene era – more than 2.5 million to 11,700 years – are almost long time. The first is an anthropological term, while the second is a geological term.

During the last glacial period (between around 120,000 and 11,500 years), the land landscape was very different from that of today. In addition to the gargantuan quantities of ice, the sea level was then significantly lower. The islands and the Ayvalık peninsulas would have been part of a single section of land connecting Anatolia and Europe.

An unforgettable moment of discovery

However, researchers have long believed that Homo sapiens Most of the time in Africa Europe traveling through the Levant and the Balkans. But the newly discovered tools indicate that people were present in the revolving landscapes of Ayvalık. The researchers found paleolithic handling, rattling and Levallois flakes and tools (stone tools that had lively edges and were probably used as knives). The team argues that the results offer an alternative story of early human migration.

“The presence of these objects in Ayvalık is particularly important because they provide direct proof that the region was part of wider technological traditions shared across Africa, Asia and Europe,” said Göknur Karahan, archaeologist at Hacettepepe University.

“It was a really unforgettable moment for us. Holding the first tools in our hands was both emotional and inspiring,” added Karahan.

The dating of substantial artefacts, stratigraphic excavations and reconstructions of the ancient environment will be crucial to determine whether their theory is correct, in particular in search of artifacts at the bottom of the Aegean Sea.