27 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The New Study Says the Iranian Plateau in the Pleistocene is a Bridge Between East and West

Iranian researchers say the Iranian plateau served as a migration route between East and West during the Pleistocene period, which began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago.

A new study reinforces a hypothesis that the Iranian plateau was like a bridge between East and West during the Pleistocene epoch.

Iranian researchers Mohsen Zeidi, Cyrus Barfi, and Shahram Zare concluded in an article published in the International Scientific Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science (IRJMETS) in April 2021 that the Iranian plateau acted as a human migratory pathway during the Pleistocene.

“Increasing Paleolithic finds in this region and neighboring countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) reinforces the hypothesis that the Iranian Plateau has been used as a human migratory pathway in the Pleistocene linking East and West.”

“The results of the archaeological survey we presented here emphasized the great potential and the importance of south-eastern Iran in general and southern margins of Lut Desert in particular, for the understanding of the Pleistocene culture history of this region,” stated the authors of the research.

The survey was carried out in parts of Kerman province’s Fahraj-Rigan district, with the belief that new Paleolithic localities hold great potential for understanding the complexities of Pleistocene hominin populations in south-eastern Iran.

During the summer of 2020, one of the authors collected a collection of surface stone tools as part of a Paleolithic survey in the Fahraj-Rigan region on the southern edges of the Lut Desert, and as a result, 12 new Paleolithic localities were identified.

the Iranian plateau plehistocen
According to the authors, different forms of igneous rocks have been used for the construction of chipped stone objects as a result of the geology of the area, with the exception of a few examples.

The surveyed field, which has a semi-arid to the arid climate, has a mean elevation of 700 meters above sea level and is bounded by volcanic mountains to the northwest, south, west, and east. The area between these mountains has been covered by Quaternary alluvial sedimentary deposits. Many of the sites were discovered along low-height hills of Quaternary river terraces or on flat alluvial plains.

Part of the volcanic band of south-eastern Iran, which is mostly made up of igneous rock formations, was also included in the survey region. According to the authors, different forms of igneous rocks have been used for the construction of chipped stone objects as a result of the geology of the area, with the exception of a few examples.

The abundance and relatively large scale of the available raw material blocks in the area indicate quick access to primary and secondary raw material sources, according to the researchers. The two common types of stone objects obtained are core-tool/core-chopper and Levallois core and flakes.  Between the captured fragments are a big unifacial point and a highly retouched flake.

The researchers found that all of the stone objects they analyzed had a normal post-depositional surface modification called gloss patina, which produced smoothness, pronounced luster, and a reduction in surface topography. This patination is thought to be characteristic of desert environments. However, striking platform, core removals, bulb of percussion and, flake negative removals are obviously visible on many stone artifacts.

“Overall, based on preliminary techno-typological observations of the stone artifacts, direct percussion using Levallois technique mainly applied for making cores and stone tools. Therefore, it is possible to propose both Lower and especially Middle Paleolithic dates at least for five localities. However, these are the first Lower and Middle Paleolithic finds reported from the systematic survey of southern margins of Lut Desert and make this area an important and very promising area for further Paleolithic investigations,” the study revealed.

lut desert
Lut Desert. Dasht-e Lut

“Our knowledge about the Paleolithic of Iran is still little,” the authors say although, Iran in general and south-eastern Iran, in particular, has been considered as one of the major hominin dispersal corridors during the Pleistocene connecting East and West.

The research looked at areas of the Lut Desert (Dasht-e Lut), which is situated in the country’s southeast and is one of the country’s main high-aridity desert basins. The provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan are home to this vast salt desert.

Due to its harsh environment and remote location in the region, this area was archaeologically unknown for a long time. The first visit to the regions of Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman was made in the 1930s by prehistoric archaeologist-explorer Marc Aurel Stein, who explored south-eastern Iran and reported several late prehistoric and historic sites.

Based on field observations, the surveyed areas seem to be largely undisturbed by natural and modern human activities, and our preliminary findings indicate that surface scatters of stone tools and debitage are typically found in vast areas along drainages and seasonal rivers terraces where water bodies were likely attractive to Pleistocene hominins. However, documenting the full extent of the localities and their lithic scatter needs further intensive survey.

Source: Tehran Times

Related Articles

Decapitated skeletons of Roman ‘criminals’ found on HS2 route

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

Archaeologists working with the HS2 project have discovered 425 bodies on the route of the new railway line – around...

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...

A 2000-year-old bronze military diploma was discovered in Turkey’s Perre ancient city

2 January 2022

2 January 2022

During excavations in the ancient city of Perre, located in the southeastern Turkish province of Adiyaman, archaeologists uncovered a bronze...

2,000-year-old unique luxury Roman villa with “underfloor heating” found in Germany

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

A luxury Roman villa with a thermal bath and underfloor heating has been unearthed in Kempten, Bavaria, one of the...

Ancient Mastaba Tomb of Royal Physician “Magician of the Goddess Selket” discovered in Sakkara

7 January 2025

7 January 2025

In the southern region of the Saqqara archaeological site, a joint French-Swiss archaeological team made an important discovery uncovering the...

Will the Siloam Inscription be returned to Israel?

12 March 2022

12 March 2022

During the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey, the claim that he wanted the Siloam Inscription, one of...

Archaeologists in Iraq find 2,700-year-old wine press

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Stone bas-reliefs carved into the walls of an irrigation canal some nine kilometers (5.5 miles) long, and the remains of...

Gate sanctuary discovered during the excavation of Archanes palace in Crete, belonging to the oldest civilisation in Europe

24 October 2024

24 October 2024

Recent excavations at the Archanes Minoan palace in Crete, belonging to the oldest civilisation in Europe, have revealed an important...

Netherlands’s unique treasure finds of medieval gold jewelry and silver coins

12 March 2023

12 March 2023

The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (the National Museum of Antiquities) in the Netherlands has announced that a unique treasure of 1000-year-old...

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old rock-carved face at Spain’s Tossal de La Cala castle

20 May 2023

20 May 2023

Archaeologists have discovered a rock-carved face at Toscal De La Cala, a Roman fort in Benidorm, on the east coast...

Evil-Wisher Well: Ancient curse tablets 2,500-year-old found in a well in Athens

14 July 2022

14 July 2022

30 ancient curse tablets were found at the bottom of a 2500-year-old well in ancient Athens. In 2020, Archaeologists from...

“One of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades”: Gold coin reveals unknown British King

20 October 2023

20 October 2023

New light has been shed on a little-known part of British history thanks to the extraordinary discovery of a coin...

2,700-year-old Children’s Cemetery unearthed in Turkey’s Tenedos

2 March 2024

2 March 2024

A 2700-year-old children’s cemetery was discovered during ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Tenedos in Bozcaada,  southeast of the...

Lost Phrygian Inscription on Arslan Kaya Monument Deciphered

23 November 2024

23 November 2024

Professor Mark Munn of Pennsylvania State University has deciphered part of the inscription on the legendary Arslan Kaya Monument (also...

7,000 years ago the earliest evidence for the cultivation of a fruit tree came from the Jordan valley

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University researchers have unraveled the earliest evidence for the domestication of a fruit tree....