75,000-year-old caves in the blue depths will reshape human history ( Science News )
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Located on the Mediterranean coast of Hatay, BC. Four more caves at a depth of 15 to 30 meters were added to the Üçağızlı Caves, which date back 42 thousand to 75,000 years. The stalactites and stalagmites in the caves in the blue depths revealed that the first modern humans who came to Anatolia from the Middle East may once have lived in these caves on land more than 75,000 years ago.
In the Üçağızlı Caves, where the first systematic excavations were started in 1997 in the Samandağ and Yayladağ districts of Hatay, Prof. Dr. Taking over from Erksin Güleç, Gaziantep University Archeology Department Prehistory Department Lecturer Assoc. Dr. İsmail Baykara noted that they have been continuing their work uninterruptedly since 2020.
Assoc. Dr. Baykara, to the work of 2021, Akdeniz University, Mediterranean Civilizations Research Institute, Head of the Department of Mediterranean Underwater Cultural Heritage, Assoc. Dr. He stated that Hakan Öniz and his team were also involved.
SEA SHELL NECKLACES FOUND 41 THOUSAND YEARS OLD IN THE FIRST CAVE
Explaining that the first studies were carried out, the Üçağızlı I Cave, 18 meters above sea level, was dated to between 29 thousand and 41 thousand years BC, Assoc. Dr. Baykara said that the chipped stone tool finds in the cave were included in the Early Upper Paleolithic culture of the Middle East, and that the inhabitants of these caves were the first modern humans to come to Anatolia.
Stating that the remains of animals such as roe deer, wild goat, fallow deer, wild boar, red fox, brown bear, leopard, hyena, turtle, rabbit, big fish and a few bird species were found in the cave, along with many ornamental objects made of sea shells, Assoc. Dr. Baykara said, “In our studies, we found chipped stone tools, the remains of hunted and eaten animals, as well as many ornamental objects made of seashells.
In the studies in Üçağızlı II Cave, which we carried out in 2020, we also obtained hunted animal bones and chipped stone tools dating back to 45 thousand and 75 thousand years BC.
'CAVES ON THE SEA ARE OLDTER THAN THE ON LAND'
Involved in the studies in 2021, Assoc. Dr. Explaining that Hakan Öniz and his team performed dives in front of the Üçağızlı Cave Complex, Assoc. Dr. "The stalactites and stalagmites found in 4 caves at various depths of the sea make us think that these caves may have been used earlier than the Üçağızlı I and Üçağızlı II caves," Baykara said.
'PENDANTS AND STABILITES SHOW THEY HAVE BEEN ON LAND IN THE PAST'
Assoc. Dr. Hakan Öniz, on the other hand, said that they carried out an important work in 2021 within the scope of Üçağızlı Cave Excavation with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. He emphasized that with the melting of the glaciers in the last Ice Age, the level of the Mediterranean increased along with the ocean levels, and an average of 100 meters of water rise has occurred in the Mediterranean in the last 12 thousand years.
Assoc. Dr. Öniz said, “We knew that there were at least 4 caves under the sea from the Üçağızlı Caves. Some of these caves are actually known caves, but we documented the locations and distributions of stalactites and stalagmites in our studies inside these caves."
'CAVES USED BY LAND CULTURES'
Pointing out that these caves had to be on land in order for stalactites and stalagmites to form, Öniz stated that the underwater caves within the framework of the Üçağızlı Cave system were probably on land 75,000 years ago, and that they revealed that the cultures living in Üçağız also used these caves.
Noting that most of the stalactites and stalagmites have a 90 degree angle to the bottom or ceiling system, Assoc. Dr. Öniz stated that one of the caves is separated from each other by galleries at a depth of 30 meters from the sea, while the other cave has two separate galleries at a point very close to the water surface.
Explaining that the other two caves are located at a depth of 15-20 meters in the sea, Assoc. Dr. Öniz said, “Our work was to understand whether these caves are suitable for human life. With these studies, it is very likely that the Üçağızlı Caves are Paleo nonstop news
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