Anzo, The First Evidence of Paleolithic Cave Sites in the Northern Margin of the Iranian Central Desert, Semnan, Iran.

Abstract

The archaeological survey of the southern foothills of Alborz Mountains was conducted in search of caves and rock shelters with Palaeolithic remains. The region under investigation in Semnan Province is located in the northwestern margins of Dasht-e Kavir in Iranian Plateau. It was investigated primarily in 1980s and 1990s by Iranian archaeologists. From 2009, The Paleolithic Survey of the Iranian Central Desert Project (PSICDP) was established in order to evaluate the Paleolithic potential of the region, as a result of which Palaeolithic sites were documented and their surface collections were published. The current survey was conducted as a part of PSICDP project in autumn 2017. As a result, 12 caves and rock shelters were recorded, despite the promising condition of which only one had evidence from Palaeolithic Period. Anzo Cave, in northwest of Mehdishahr, was the only cave which yielded few number of chipped stones on the outer slope of the cave. The results of this survey raise the possibility that movement patterns of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in the region included seasonal-vertical movements between mountainous area in the north and southern lowlands. Recent discovery of Anzo Cave re-emphasizes the significance of the region as a part of migratory pathways during the Pleistocene.