Fossils found during construction of housing complex in Central Anatolia

NEVŞEHİR

Fossils discovered in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir’s Gülşehir district, which were revealed during excavations initiated for a housing area and date back millions of years, are being studied.

In the fossil exploration in the Yeniyaylacık village area, chaired by Cesur Pehlevan of Nevşehir Hacıbektaş Veli University Fine Arts Faculty, the fossils of horses, rhinos, giraffes and bovidae that lived in Anatolia some 7.5 million years ago were found.

Pehlevan said that the fossils, found during diggings for a housing project by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), give important clues about life in Anatolia millions of years ago.

“We started to work on July 1 with a team of approximately eight-10 people. The excavations will continue for another 10 days and end,” said Pehlevan.

“This is a typical late Miocene fossil locality. The fossils we found in this area date back some 7.5 million years. As a result of our studies, we think that we will obtain important findings about the history of Anatolia.”