About 8,200 artefacts from the Palaeolithic era are being prepared for exhibition after surface surveys conducted in the southeastern Gaziantep University campus in Türkiye.

The work initiated by the Gaziantep Museum Directorate at the campus is now approaching completion, with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that was obtained in 2021.

During studies, the chipped stone artefacts used in activities such as hunting during the lower Palaeolithic era were found.

The artefacts classified in collaboration with students in the archaeology department will be exhibited at the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum.

Professor Ismail Baykara, the head of the Protohistory Department in the Archaeology Division at Gaziantep University, told Anadolu Agency that graduate student Yunus Emre Sevindik approached him with a finding from the lower Palaeolithic era, and they obtained permission from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to work on the finding.

Baykara said teams have reached the end of the research started on the university campus and the findings were already known in Gaziantep since similar findings have been reached in many studies.

"Within the university campus, we reached chipped stone remnants from the lower Palaeolithic eras in significant quantities," Baykara said.

"Among them, especially hand axes are very characteristic. These hand axes already indicate to us that they could be over 300,000 years old," he added, noting that teams are working to evaluate a clear date for when the artefacts belong.

Baykara emphasised the importance of the study for students and said students receive practical lessons by taking the coordinates of each stone and classifying them.

Gaziantep Museum Director Ozgur Comak noted the coincidental​​​​​​​ discovery of chipped stone artefacts on the surfaces across from a faculty's parking lot.

"After completing the inventory of all these artefacts, we will move them to the Archaeology Museum in Gaziantep, and once we transport these artefacts to the museum, we will arrange them for exhibition and presentation, allowing visitors to come and see them," said Comak.