TEHRAN - Groundbreaking findings from a team of Iranian and French anthropologists have confirmed that humans inhabited the Iranian Plateau approximately half a million years ago.

Their research focused on the Qaleh Kurd cave, located at an elevation of 2137 meters at the western boundary of the Iranian Central Plateau (ICP) and the Zagros Mountains. The site’s strategic location links it to key paleoanthropological and archaeological sites in the Levant, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and East Asia.

The study, authored by Iranian anthropologist Hamed Vahdati Nasab and several international fellows, has recently been published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.

Previously, despite decades of field research, no Middle Pleistocene assemblages had been found in the ICP, the Zagros, or the Alborz Mountains in a clear chronological and stratigraphic context. The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area dates back to 80,000 years ago. However, the recent excavation and analysis of the Qaleh Kurd cave has dramatically shifted this timeline.

The joint Iranian and French paleoanthropological project unearthed in situ Middle Pleistocene archaeological assemblages, including a human deciduous first upper molar, rich lithic artifacts, and faunal material. The findings indicate human occupation of the site during a period ranging from approximately 452,000 ± 32,000 years to 165,000 ± 11,000 years ago, pushing back the earliest known human settlement in the ICP by over 300,000 years.

According to their article, the human molar, discovered in the upper part of the Middle Pleistocene sequence, showed significant wear, complicating precise taxonomic identification. However, the study of the three upper archaeological assemblages revealed recurrent human occupation by early Middle Paleolithic cultures. These assemblages exhibit traits similar to those found in contemporary sites in the Caucasus and the Levant, as well as the later Middle Paleolithic of the Zagros range.

The faunal remains, predominantly composed of horse bones, displayed numerous anthropogenic marks, indicating extensive butchery activities at the site. This evidence suggests that Qaleh Kurd cave was a significant location for early humans in terms of subsistence and cultural activities.

From a broader regional and chronological perspective, these discoveries position Qaleh Kurd cave as a pivotal site for understanding early human settlements and their dispersal between the Levant and Asia. The research highlights the ICP’s crucial role in the study of human evolution and migration patterns during the Middle Pleistocene.

The findings underscore the rich biological and cultural diversity of early humans in this region and prompt new questions about their interactions and adaptations to the diverse landscapes of the Iranian Plateau.

The Iranian Plateau, also known as the Persian Plateau, is a prominent geological feature spanning parts of Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It is part of the Eurasian Plate, situated between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate.

Geographically, the plateau lies between the Zagros Mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag to the north, the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus Mountains to the northwest, the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to the south, and the Indian subcontinent to the east.

Stretching from the Caspian Sea in the northwest to Balochestan in the southeast, the Iranian Plateau extends for nearly 2,000 kilometers. It covers a large part of Iran, all of Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan located west of the Indus River, encompassing an area of approximately 3,700,000 square kilometers.

Despite being termed a plateau, the region is far from flat and includes several mountain ranges. Its highest point is Noshaq in the Hindu Kush, reaching an elevation of 7,492 meters, while its lowest point is the Lut Desert, east of Kerman, Iran, at below 300 meters.

AM