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In 2004–2006 a group of Lower Palaeolithic sites was discovered in the northeastern Caucasus: Ainikab I–VI, Gegalashur I–III and Muhkai I–II. Since then, they have been the subject of comprehensive scientific investigations. One site which is undergoing active research is the multilayered site of Muhkai II. Multiple cultural layers at the site have been found in a 73 m thick sequence of Early Pleistocene sediments. The geological age of the layers encompasses the interval 2.1–0.8 million years ago, or the majority of the Early Pleistocene. Layer 80 of Muhkai II is located in the central part of the section at a depth of −33.6 to −34.0 m. Its significance lies in the fact that the site contains two cultural layers–the upper and the lower (main)–that are preserved in situ or have been subject to minimal fluvial processes. The finds consist of lithic artefacts and osseous faunal remains. According to field observations and microstratigraphic analyses, the cultural layers can be characterised as the ancient surfaces of an occupation area. Two stages of occupation can be defined in the lower cultural layer. Layer 80 of Muhkai II was a periodically visited location at the banks of a waterbody, where the acquisition and butchery of large mammals took place. The faunal collection contains 301 bones, deriving from four carnivorous and six herbivorous species of mammals. The total lithic collection contains 1094 finds. According to typological and technological criteria the lithic assemblage relates to the Oldowan and has analogies with Oldowan sites in Africa (particularly with sites of the Olduvai Gorge as well as others). At the same time, some specifics of the lithic assemblage reflect the uniqueness of the site and its functional type. Layer 80 of the Muhkai II site is estimated to date to within the chronological interval ∼2.1–1.7 mya.

Early Palaeolithic finds older than Acheulean were unknown in Eastern Anatolia until recently. During exploratory works carried out by a joint Russian-Turkish expedition in the Euphrates River basin (2014–2016), several stratified Early Palaeolithic localities were found. Lithic finds are represented by choppers, picks, retouched tools, and flakes. A similar stone tool industry has been found in the Caucasus (Armenia, Dagestan). In addition to the archaeological typological dating of lithic tools in eastern Turkey, geomorphological, stratigraphic, paleontological, and paleomagnetic records also confirm the Early Pleistocene age of the localities. Some of these sites are dated to before the Olduvai subchron, i.e., ∼2 Ma. New Early Palaeolithic discoveries in Eastern Turkey are important for the study of the oldest human cultures of the Middle East and the Caucasus. Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic stone tools were also found in the lower river terraces of tributaries of the Euphrates, south of the Taurus Mountains. These finds were used to date the terraces.

The results of study of faunal materials unique for the north-eastern Caucasus are published, deriving from layer 80 of the Oldowan site of Muhkai II. Twenty-six specimens of four species of carnivorous mammal and six species of herbivorous mammal were identified in this material. In addition, the remains of small mammals, reptiles and amphibians were identified, which are indicators for the dating of the assemblage and the establishment of the specific characteristics of the natural environment at the time of usage of the Oldowan site. While in the modern day the investigated region consists of a belt of medium high mountains, during the chronological period under study open landscapes of savannah type with small areas of forest vegetation dominated. Based on a combination of data from palaeomagnetic analysis and faunal determinations, the time of existence of the complex is established as no later than the lower limit of the Olduvai episode during the Matuyama palaeomagnetic epoch.