The Human Fossil Record from Turkey

The timing and route of early human dispersals out of the African continent are among the most important issues currently discussed in paleoanthropology. Several questions arise concerning both early and later dispersals: When did migration events happen? From which populations did these dispersing hominins stem? Which routes did they use? One of the likely dispersal corridors passes through Turkey, which is situated between three continents and therefore can be seen as an important bridge between them. Despite its geographic position, paleoanthropological research in Turkey has been limited, and the known fossil human record from this region is small. Although most of the known fossil human remains were found during early investigations, in the last decade new finds have further highlighted the region’s potential for paleoanthropological research. This chapter reviews the human fossil record from Turkey, and presents the results of a preliminary geometric morphometric study of the Kocabas hominin, the oldest and most important fossil human specimen known from the country.