One of the oldest known settlements in Anatolia is the Karain Cave located on the slopes of the Taurus Mountains facing the Mediterranean on the road of Korkuteli, about 30 km northwest of Antalya. Its date is approximately 500 thousand years back from the present, in other words it is the first period of the Old Stone Age. In Karain, bone remains of cave men (homo sapiens neandertalensis) were also found. These are the earliest fossil remains uncovered in the whole of Anatolia. The Karain Cave, which contains the oldest prehistoric finds of the region, presents data from the Old Stone Age and Polished Stone Age and the Beldibi Cave from the Middle Stone Age. Excavations at Bademağacı Höyüğü show that the Cilalı Stone Age settlements, finds and the first traces of the transition to the settled life can be found. When the Early Bronze Age findings obtained by excavations in Karataş, Semahöyük are added, there is a continuous civilization in the region from the Old Stone Age to our time.
The early history of the Antalya Region was dark before the excavations in the region before 1946. In the cuneiform written documents of the Hittites, it is accepted in the scientific circles that the Ahhiyava and Arzava countries are Pamphylia. With the emergence of researches and finds in this region and the available data, this dark period of the region has begun to be enlightened.
In the period when the Hittite State was established, which brought the first political unity in Anatolia, the writing came to Anatolia recently. The Hittite period, which was established in the middle of Anatolia, was silent and dark for Antalya. Hittite kings of the region on the stage of history begins with the arrangement of Western Anatolia expeditions. The ancient geography names such as Perge, Kesros and Patara, which are located within the borders of today's Antalya province, dates from 1267-1237 BC. It was learned from Hattusili's annals. Patara's "Pataf" form of a Hittite hieroglyph in Konya's Yalburt is the finds that reinforce this enlightenment. It is understood that the Hittites extended to the Mediterranean coast, which they called "Lukka country".
