This synthesis of the Prehistory of Asia Minor starts at about 20,000 BC, which equates roughly with the end of the Late Glacial Maximum. This starting point is less arbitrary than it may appear at first sight.

First, relatively little is known about the Palaeolithic of Turkey prior to the Late Glacial Maximum, and the data that we do have are best understood in the much larger context of contemporary sites in Europe and Asia, rather than by focussing on Asia Minor. The main sequences have been excavated in a number of cave sites located among the Mediterranean littoral in the Antalya and Hatay regions.