The discovery of an in situ Neanderthal remain in the Bawa Yawan Rockshelter, West-Central Zagros Mountains, Kermanshah.

Neanderthal extinction has been a matter of debate for many years. New discoveries, better chronologies and genomic evidence have done much to clarify some of the issues. This evidence suggests that Neanderthals became extinct around 40,000-37,000 years before present (BP), after a period of coexistence with Homo sapiens of several millennia, involving biological and cultural interactions between the two groups. However, the bulk of this evidence relates to Western Eurasia, and recent work in Central Asia and Siberia has shown that there is considerable local variation. Southwestern Asia, despite having a number of significant Neanderthal remains, has not played a major part in the debate over extinction. Here we report a Neanderthal deciduous canine from the site of Bawa Yawan in the West-Central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tooth is associated with Zagros Mousterian lithics, and its context is preliminary dated to between ~43,600 and ~41,500 years ago

A Bayesian luminescence chronology for the Bawa Yawan Rock Shelter at the Central Zagros Mountains (Western Iran)

International audienceBawa Yawan Rock Shelter is one of the critical Palaeolithic sites discovered recently in the Central Zagros in Western Iran. The site exhibits a rich assemblage from the Middle Palaeolithic (Zagros Mousterian) to the Epipalaeolithic, and it discloses one Neanderthal canine tooth. The site stands out as one of the handfuls of Palaeolithic sites in the Central Zagros that contain human remains. Therefore, establishing a reliable chronology revealing the temporal period in which Neanderthals inhabited the region plays a significant role in our understanding of the human past in the region. We employed luminescence dating in combination with Bayesian modelling to improve the precision of the estimated ages. Our results indicate that the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages unearthed from geological layers GH3 to GH5 in the site fall in the [58-80] ka time frame (68% credible interval). More importantly, the Bayesian age for the layer containing the Neanderthal remains exhibited [65-71] ka (68%). This age contradicts the previous 14 C-based chronology. We argue that it is likely that the 14 C dates underestimate the timing of the Middle Palaeolithic industries at Bawa Yawan. Furthermore, our study reveals the first luminescence age for the Epipalaeolithic in the Central Zagros, which is dated to [13-15] ka (68%)

Ecological Landscape Structure and Game Management Strategy among the Upper Palaeolithic Societies of Southern Zagros Mountains

Complex social organisation, technological skills and specialised foraging strategies are considered as modernity indicators in the history of Homo sapiens' evolution. However, the timing and nature of these abilities are poorly understood. Research on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic faunal remains and settlement patterns in the Zagros Mountains of Iran proposed the model of 'game management' for hunter-gatherer societies, reflecting their advanced cultural development affected by their environmantal contxt in this part of the world. Using various methods, including ecological landscape structure analysis, site location and archaeological remains, this paper reveals that the Late Pleistocene's hunters had a considerable focus on strategic corridors. We argue this behaviour improved the hunters game management tactic among the Upper Palaeolithic population in the Dasht-e Rostam area of the Southern Zagros Mountains. We demonstrate how the environmental adaptability accelerated Homo sapiens' modernity around 40 kyr ago. Although this proficiency resulted in increasing meat supply, it required a high level of intra-group communication and fitness, seasonal adaptations and specific technologies to compete with other predators using the same strategy in the Southern Zagros

Modelling Neanderthals' dispersal routes from Caucasus towards east.

The study of the cultural materials associated with the Neanderthal physical remains from the sites in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberian Altai and adjacent areas documents two distinct techno-complexes of Micoquian and Mousterian. These findings potentially outline two dispersal routes for the Neanderthals out of Europe. Using data on topography and Palaeoclimate, we generated computer-based least-cost-path modelling for the Neanderthal dispersal routes from Caucasus towards the east. In this regard, two dispersal routes have been identified: A northern route from Greater Caucasus associated with Micoquian techno-complex towards Siberian Altai and a southern route from Lesser Caucasus associated with Mousterian towards Siberian Altai via the Southern Caspian Corridor. Based on archaeological, bio- and physio-geographical data, our model hypothesises that during climatic deterioration phases (e.g. MIS 4) the connection between Greater and Lesser Caucasus was limited. This issue perhaps resulted in the separate development and spread of two cultural groups of Micoquian and Mousterian with an input from two different population sources of Neanderthal influxes: eastern and southern Europe refugia for these two northern and southern dispersal routes respectively. Of these two, we focus on the southern dispersal route, for it comprises a 'rapid dispersal route' towards east. The significant location of the Southern Caspian corridor between high mountains of Alborz and the Caspian Sea, provided a special biogeographical zone and a refugium. This exceptional physio-geographic condition brings forward the Southern Caspian corridor as a potential place of admixture of different hominin species including Neanderthals and homo sapiens

Modelling Neanderthals’ dispersal routes from Caucasus towards east

The study of the cultural materials associated with the Neanderthal physical remains from the sites in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberian Altai and adjacent areas documents two distinct techno-complexes of Micoquian and Mousterian. These findings potentially outline two dispersal routes for the Neanderthals out of Europe. Using data on topography and Palaeoclimate, we generated computer-based least-cost-path modelling for the Neanderthal dispersal routes from Caucasus towards the east. In this regard, two dispersal routes have been identified: A northern route from Greater Caucasus associated with Micoquian techno-complex towards Siberian Altai and a southern route from Lesser Caucasus associated with Mousterian towards Siberian Altai via the Southern Caspian Corridor. Based on archaeological, bio- and physio-geographical data, our model hypothesises that during climatic deterioration phases (e.g. MIS 4) the connection between Greater and Lesser Caucasus was limited. This issue perhaps resulted in the separate development and spread of two cultural groups of Micoquian and Mousterian with an input from two different population sources of Neanderthal influxes: eastern and southern Europe refugia for these two northern and southern dispersal routes respectively. Of these two, we focus on the southern dispersal route, for it comprises a ‘rapid dispersal route’ towards east. The significant location of the Southern Caspian corridor between high mountains of Alborz and the Caspian Sea, provided a special biogeographical zone and a refugium. This exceptional physio-geographic condition brings forward the Southern Caspian corridor as a potential place of admixture of different hominin species including Neanderthals and homo sapiens