Southeast Turkey lies astride possible routes of hominin dispersal from the Levant into Europe and the Caucasus. Because comparatively little systematic research has been conducted on Palaeolithic archaeology in the region, information about hominin presence at different periods is limited. Past research has been concentrated in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins and along the Mediterranean coast around the mouth of the Orontes River. Abundant Acheulean findspots in major river valleys testify to a robust hominin presence during the later part of the Lower Palaeolithic though few in situ occurrences have been documented. Traces of Middle Palaeolithic occupation, principally Levallois Mousterian assemblages, are also common in these valleys, but cave occupations are also known. Four coastal caves with Middle Palaeolithic deposits near the town of Samandağ (Tıkalı, Kanal, Merdivenli, and Üçağızlı II), have been excavated. Üçağızlı I and Kanal caves have yielded Initial Upper Palaeolithic and Ahmarian assemblages in stratified contexts. Epipalaeolithic sites are somewhat more widespread but are not nearly as abundant as in the Levant.