The Paleolithic Period:
In Anatolia, the most important Paleolithic places are Yarimburgaz, Istanbul and Karain, Antalya where the teeth and bone pieces of the people who we call Neanderthal Man and Home Sapiens were found in the cave Karain.
   The Neolithic Period:
This is the period when man started to take benefits of the nature by cultivating plants and domesticating animals. Agriculture started during this period. Because people did not prefer to move with their animals, town life started. They started to deal in the commerce of grain for the first time in this age. They made tools for farming and weaving. The earliest evidence of agricultural life in Anatolia dates back to 7040 BC. in Hacilar, Burdur. Apart from that Catalhoyuk, Konya is another town that has the proves of the Neolithic life in Anatolia. 

   The Chalcolithic Period:
Apart from the stone, copper started to be used for making tools. This is the age of Copper Stone. The examples of this age in Anatolia is Hacilar and Canhasan, Konya as well as Beycesultan, Alisar and Alacahoyuk. 

   The Bronze Age:
This is the age when bronze, mixture of tin and copper, started to be used for making weapons, utensils and ornaments. With bronze, copper, gold, silver and electron were used too. In the burial chambers of Alacahoyuk vessels, jewels, statues and some musical instruments were found made of these various metals. The statues found were mostly bull statues which had an important role in Neolithic and Hittite Religions. 

   Hattians:
These are the people who lived in the Central Anatolia in the prehistoric age during when writing was not introduced yet. Therefore we have small information about them through the sources of Hittites. These are the race who gave their name to Anatolia which used to be called the land of Hatti. They were very good at monumental architecture like the sixty room ground level palace at Kultepe. 

   The Middle Bronze Age:
This is the age of the old Assyrian state in Mesopotamia who developed a trading system with Anatolia. During the time Anatolia was divided into feudal states which were ruled by Hattians and they had markets which were called Karum. These twenty karums were ruled by the central market Kanis in Kultepe. With the Assyrian language the writing was introduced to Anatolia.

   Hittites:
These people were mentioned in the Bible who started living in Anatolia in 2000BC after their immigration. They chose the Black Sea Region to settle however the natives of that region was the Hattians. 

After awhile these two races married with each other and the Hittites adapted themselves into the culture of the Hattians. The Hittite was founded by Anitta and Hattusilis I chose Hattusha, today called Bogazkoy, as the capital city. After extending the borders of the state, they had a battle with the Egyptian King Ramses II. Both sides were considered to have won the battle and made peace. 

This battle was one of the first battles which a tactical description was survived. Kadesh Peace Treaty signed between Hattusilis III and Ramses II is accepted to be the first recorded international treaty in the world. The Hittites were able to establish their kingdom after 1750BC in Anatolia and reached its highest power in 14 -13BC who was destroyed by the Sea People. These people not only used the cuneiform script writing which made them the first known literate civilization of Anatolia but also a picture writing form called hieroglyphs that we see on their seals and monuments. The worth seeing remains of the Hittites are the Sphinx Gate in Alacahoyuk and the rock relieves of Yazilikaya. In addition in Alisar, Alacahoyuk, Kultepe, Karahoyuk in Konya, Tarsus and Mersin are other places where the remains of this civilization can be seen. 

Hittites

   The Iron Age:
This is the age of iron which came into the use of daily life with the basic tools and weapons instead of bronze. This age brought out four civilizations which are Neo-Hittites, Urartians, Phrygians and Ionians.
After the destruction of the Hittites, the state recovered itself with a Hittite culture and the influence of Syrian-Semitic. These were called Neo-Hittites states which were twelve small independent kingdoms. These are the Hittites or Sons of Heth who were referred to in the Bible. 

   Urartians settled around Van Lake in 1000BC. Their capital was Tushpa. 

   Phrygians were among the nomadic Sea Peoples. They became a very powerful kingdom during the reign of Midas. According to the Hellenistic people, Midas period was the subject of mythology like in one of the stories it was told how he became a king and how his Gordion knot was cut through as well as how his ears were changed into the ears of a donkey.

Out of the three colonies of Hellas who were sent out to western Anatolia and some Aegean Islands, Ionians became dominant with the influence of Anatolian culture. One of the Ionian cities Miletos had become important not only as a trade center but also as art and science centers. The twelve Ionian cities are Miletos, Myus, Priene, Samos, Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedos, Teos, Erythrae, Chios, Clozomenae and Phocaea. After the Ionian cities were conquered by Persians, all the philosophers and artists immigrated to Athens and Italy. The Ionia became free with Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire.

   The Dark Age:
Anatolia had been home to many civilizations for 2000 years. However the eastern part in the 8th Century BC started to live the Dark Age which made the civilizations in the region pass to the western part of Anatolia. Two civilizations of this age are Lydians and Carians. 

The borders of Lydia, which was the name of a fertile and geologically wealthy western Anatolia region, extended from Caria in the south to Mysia in the north and Phrygia in the east. Sardis was the most important city of Lydia. For the first time in history, Lydians in 640BC made electrum coins which they used in exchanging goods.

Carians of Miletos and Halicarnassus were the mercenaries in the service of Egyptian King. Halicarnassus was made the metropolis of Caria by Mausolus. Among the ruins of the civilization, Satrap's tomb and the Mausoleum which is one of the seven Wonders of the world are worth seeing. 

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