Excavations have been carried out at Incayay Cave in Turkey’s northwestern Çanakkale Province, it was reported. Archionnews. During the excavation, they found 86,000-year-old traces of human presence, not only Homo sapiens, but also earlier human species were active in the cave.

The private site was found in 2016, and between 2017 and 2020, an international team subjected the cavity to a thorough investigation. Excavations continued last year and are still ongoing.

The latest finds come from the Paleolithic period, the middle period of the Stone Age. “Evidence for the Paleolithic in Çanakkale was previously limited. Through our research, it has become clear that Çanakkale is in fact one of the very rich Turkish provinces in terms of the Paleolithic,” said Ismail Özer of Ankara University and project leader.

The Middle Paleolithic began about 250,000 years ago and lasted until 50,000 years ago. “Our results show that people lived here intensively during this period,” Ozer added.

The age of the oldest found in the cave dates back to 86,000 years, and so far archaeologists have only found stone tools and organic remains, so no bones have been found yet. The Enkayi Cave is a formation made of flint, and the material was of great value to people at that time. A variety of tools, including saw-like objects, were created from stone.