Scientists believe the oldest ancient tool ever found in Turkey is proof humans migrated between Asia and Europe some 1.2 million years ago.

This tool is made from a quartzite flake that shows evidence it was fashioned by humans to use as a cutting tool. It sheds new insight on how humans dispersed beyond Africa and Asia.

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The study focuses on how researchers used advanced techniques for dating ancient deposits found in the Gediz river in western Turkey where the tool was discovered.

According to Danielle Schreve from the Royal Holloway, University of London, this discovery is pivotal in determining the time and route of early human migrations into Europe. Scientists think this took was probably dropped by an ancient hominin on a floodplain over a million years ago.

Flaked tools are commonly found in Turkey.  Most of them were found in sediments, making it impossible to determine the date when they were made and used.

Another early evidence of human migration in the region is an ancient skull discovered in Kocabaş, Turkey. Its age is uncertain but scientists estimate it to be between 1.3 and 1.1 million years old.

Geologic evidence suggests humans lived in that area some 1.7 million to 1.24 million years back.

The oldest stone tools ever discovered were about 2.6 million years old from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa. This study was published in the journal, Quaternary Science Reviews.

TagsAncient Stone Tool Found in Turkey Reveals Earliest Human Migration 1.2 Million Years Ago, early human migration, Turkey, stone tool turkey human migration