Prehistoric painted cave with nearly 100 schematic figures found in Turkey's Tohma Canyon, Malatya

Summary

An interdisciplinary team from Inonu University, Istanbul University, and Firat University announced in June 2026 the discovery of a prehistoric painted cave in the Tohma Canyon area of Malatya province, eastern Turkey. The cave contains nearly 100 human and animal figures along with a dense cluster of geometric symbols, all rendered in red and reddish-brown pigment. Led by Levent Iskenderoglu of Inonu University's Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, the team tentatively dated the cave to the Neolithic Period, associated with early farming communities and settled life in Anatolia, though the wider Tohma Canyon region carries Paleolithic traces. Unlike the naturalistic figurative tradition of European cave painting, the Malatya figures are schematic. Several images overlap earlier ones, indicating the site was visited and painted across multiple phases, possibly spanning thousands of years.

The split

Turkish state media and archaeological institutions framed the discovery as a national heritage milestone and evidence of eastern Anatolia's deep prehistoric record, a region that has received less rock-art attention than the Aegean or Mediterranean coasts. International rock art specialists noted that the schematic character of the figures fits a broader Anatolian and Near Eastern tradition distinct from the Lascaux-Chauvet-Altamira lineage, and said the site would require systematic documentation and radiocarbon dating before a firm chronology could be established. Local Malatya authorities moved quickly to raise the question of protective status for the canyon.

By the numbers

• Nearly 100 human and animal figures documented in the initial survey
• Dense group of geometric symbols in addition to figurative images
• Pigment: red and reddish-brown throughout
• 3 universities involved: Inonu, Istanbul, Firat
• Tentative date range: Neolithic Period (roughly 10,000 to 4,500 BCE in Anatolia)
• Location: Tohma Canyon, Malatya province, eastern Turkey

Why it matters

Turkey's inventory of documented prehistoric rock art sites is concentrated in western and coastal Anatolia; a significant Neolithic painted cave in Malatya adds a data point for symbolic culture in the upper Euphrates region and strengthens the case for extended fieldwork in Tohma Canyon. For the Major Digs category of active excavation and survey, the find arrives during a period of expanded LiDAR and remote-sensing survey in Anatolia, part of a wider wave of discovery that includes the 2026 Minanbé Maya city announcement and ongoing surveys at multiple Anatolian Neolithic sites.

What to watch

• Formal radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating of the pigment and sediment layers
• Whether the Turkish Culture Ministry grants protected archaeological site status to the canyon
• Publication of full documentation in a peer-reviewed journal
• Comparison with other Anatolian schematic rock art corpora to establish chronological and cultural affiliations