350,000-year-old axes found at Antalya’s Karain Cave

ANTALYA

Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered the world’s second oldest axe, at Antalya’s Karain Cave, believed to be 350,000 years old.

The Paleolithic archaeological site is located at Yağca village 27 kilometers northwest of Antalya city in the Mediterranean region of Turkey.

Harun Taşkıran, a professor at the archeology department in Ankara University, said during the excavation process, they have found a sharp, two sided axe, equaling more or less to the size of a human hand, in the middle Paleolithic era layers of the cave.

He said that the axe must have been used for hunting. Another similar axe was found in the same cave last year.

The presence of axes and tools concludes that the cave was a living space, where ancient people were making tools. It also shows that they (ancient people) had discovered fire and were separating flesh of animals that they hunted.

The excavations in the Karain Cave had begun in 1946. The area is believed to have a history of 500,000 years.

Taşkıran said the remains of hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephants and Homo neanderthalensis (archaic humans) were also found in the Cave.

Earlier in 2016, archaeologists in Australia had discovered the remains of a polished Stone Age tool believed to have been made almost 50,000 years ago.