Flint and stone tools, thought to date back to 11,000 BC, were found in a cave in Trabzon. In the analysis, it was evaluated that the stone tools were the cutting tools of the first human group living in the region.

Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Archeology, Professor of Protohistory and Front Asia Archeology. Hülya Çalışkan Akgül and Assoc. Dr. Important findings were determined with the “Trabzon Protohistoric (Chalcolithic and Bronze Age) Survey Project” initiated by Serkan Demirel in 2018.

During the work carried out within the scope of the project, 103 pieces of stone tools of different sizes were found by archaeologists in a cave located in the Çayırbağı Mahallesi Koskarlı location in Trabzon’s Düzköy district. With the first examinations, it was determined that the stone tools used as “cutters” belonged to 11 thousand years ago.

7 pieces of waste sent to Canada for origin analysis

7 of the obsidian and flint tools were made by Prof. Dr. Sent to Tristan Carter. According to the first results, it was determined that 5 of the stones that were thought to be used as “cutting tools” by the first human group living in the region were of Cappadocia and 2 of them were of Trans Caucasus (Georgia-Armenia) origin.
BC in Trabzon. Stone tools used by the first humans dating back to 11,000 BC found

BC in Trabzon. Stone tools used by the first humans belonging to 11 thousand BC were found.

Archaeologists, who have made an important discovery about the known human history of the region, aim to excavate in Koskarlı Cave, which is dated to Göbeklitepe, in order to obtain more findings. By the way, the exact location of the cave has not been disclosed.
‘The first cave in Trabzon dated to such an early period’

Stating that they are looking for pre-Roman findings with the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Survey Project, KTU Faculty of Letters Archeology Department Protohistory and Front Asian Archeology lecturer Dr. Hülya Çalışkan Akgül said that they obtained the most important findings in the study in 2019. Explaining that they found archaeological materials in a cave in Düzköy district, Dr. Hülya Çalışkan Akgül said, “In 2019, we entered Düzköy valley for the first time and worked especially in the areas south of the valley. Here, the stone tools we found in a cave called ‘Koskarlı Cave’ made us very happy. “It was the first cave of Trabzon with data dated”.
‘Belonging to the hunting gathering period’

Stating that the traces on the stones they found are regular and it is not possible to form with natural processes, Dr. Hülya Çalışkan Akgül gave the following information about the distinctive features of the stone tools they found in the cave:

"The period we are talking about is a period when human beings still live as hunters and gatherers, but specialization in this field is achieved. A stage in which they started to make more fine, better retouched, processed and smaller stone tools. These tools, which we define as 'microliths', are 1 centimeter. With their presence, we can easily understand that these stones are from the hands of human beings. "

’13 thousand years before today’

Stating that they are doing a preliminary study to date the found objects, Dr. Akgül said, “As a result of our preliminary studies and comparisons, we name these tools as’ epipalaeolithic period ‘. Thinking about 11 thousand years before Christ or 13 thousand years ago is now possible for the stone tools of’ Koskarlı Cave. and with a more detailed excavation work, it is possible to obtain more detailed and precise data, ”he said.

‘Stones came to Trabzon from different regions’

Dr. Akgül said, “In order to understand this, we subject the obsidians to an analysis called ‘origin analysis’. According to the preliminary results from Canada, 5 of the 7 pieces are from Cappadocia, that is, from Nevşehir, Aksaray, Ürgüp. 2 of them are of ‘Trans Caucasus’ origin. It has been suggested that the ‘Trans Caucasus’ may have come from that region, including Armenia, Georgia, and perhaps Northeast Anatolia. This means that human beings have a certain movement. Although it is difficult to say the course of the movement or in what ways it may have taken place, we know from these materials. He came to Trabzon from different regions, one from Cappadocia and the other from Trans Caucasus. “We have broken a prejudice such as the absence of anybody in the region,” he said.

‘The first human community that lived in Trabzon’

Dr. Akgül said that they discovered the traces of the first human community that lived in the region with the stone tools they found and said, “The stone tools in the cave point to us the first human community that we can detect in Trabzon. So far, we can say that this is the earliest, but we do not think that Koskarlı is the only one. “We can find the first residents of the region, from a little earlier period.

‘Almost as old as Göbeklitepe’

Dr. Akgül underlined that the stone tools they found in the “Koskarlı Cave” are important because they are in close history with Göbeklitepe, the oldest known settled living space and place of worship in human history. Akgül said, “Göbeklitepe is very important for the whole world and Anatolia. This comparison may be made to show everyone the importance of Trabzon’s ‘Koskalı Cave’. The conditions between the Koskarlı Cave and Göbeklitepe are slightly different, but it can be a sentence that can be used to emphasize its importance. “We can make such a comparison because it is the first in the Trabzon region, it shows us the first human community and we propose a date relatively close to Göbeklitepe.”