Çanakkale / Çan / İnkaya Mağarası Kazısı.

In anthropological studies, one of the most important research problems is where the human species first appeared and their distribution areas. There is thousands of evidence that the earliest human species originated in Africa and then spread in waves to other continents. Due to the location of Anatolia between the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe, it is of great importance in terms of researching this subject. Excavations have been carried out since 2017 in the İnkaya Cave, which was discovered during the survey conducted to determine the habitat and distribution areas of human species in the northwestern part of our country. In this study, evaluations are made about the surveys carried out during seven seasons and the excavations carried out during six seasons in Çanakkale. In the rocky system of İnkaya Cave, which was formed by volcanic activities in the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene period, cultural remains are belonging to people who lived for about 86 thousand years. Chipped stone tools made of flint, basalt, and andesite reflect the use of the cave in the Middle Paleolithic period. İnkaya Cave has the potential to explain the possible migrations of fossil people who lived during the glacial periods prevailing in the northern hemisphere during the Paleolithic and preferred relatively more suitable valley shelters between Anatolia and the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]