A collaborative team of French and Iranian archaeologists has unearthed evidence of early human occupation in Iran’s Central Plateau.
The discovery at Qaleh Kurd Cave in Qazvin has extended the timeline of human settlement in the region by over 300,000 years, according to research published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology on May 23. This significant finding includes a human deciduous tooth and a rich assemblage of lithic and faunal materials, providing new insights into early human dispersals and cultural interactions across the region.
The Iranian Central Plateau, flanked by the Alborz and Zagros Mountains, is a critical archaeological area due to its strategic position at the crossroads of the Levant, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and East Asia. This location has historically served as a vital corridor for human migration and interaction during the Pleistocene epoch.
The joint Iranian and French Paleoanthropological Project focused on Qaleh Kurd Cave, situated at the western edge of the Central Plateau near the Zagros Mountains. The excavations revealed that the cave was occupied by humans between approximately 452,000 and 165,000 years ago. This period predates the previously known evidence of human habitation in the area, which had been dated to around 80,000 years ago.
Central to this discovery is a human deciduous first upper molar, found in the upper part of the Middle Pleistocene sequence. This tooth, along with a diverse collection of lithic tools and faunal remains, indicates that the cave was recurrently occupied by early Middle Paleolithic cultures. The faunal assemblage, predominantly composed of horse bones, shows extensive evidence of butchery.