The open-air Paleolithic site of Mirak,northern edge of the Iranian Central Desert (Semnan,Iran): Evidence of repeated human occupations during the late Pleistocene |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;2. UMR7194 MNHN–CNRS–UPVD/Département Homme et Environnement, Musée de l’Homme, Palais de Chaillot, 75016 Paris, France;3. GéoArchÉon/UMR CNRS 8591, Laboratoire de géographie physique, 75016 Meudon, France;4. Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), Tehran, Iran;5. Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, 55455 Minneapolis, USA;6. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran;7. IRAMAT-CRP2A, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Maison de l’Archéologie, Pessac, France;8. UMR 7207, CR2P–CNRS–MNHN–Université Paris 6, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Paris, France;9. Laboratoire Géosystèmes, UMR 8157 CNRS, Université Lille-1, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France;10. Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran;11. Institute of Research and Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran |
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| Abstract: | The northern edge of the Iranian Central Desert has provided valuable evidence of terminal Pleistocene human settlements. Mirak constitutes one of the largest open-air lithic scatters in the region, consisting of eight natural mounds. Fieldwork was initiated in 2015 by the joint Iranian-French program at Mirak 8. Preliminary results have demonstrated at least three successive phases of human occupation during the MIS3: an upper layer with clear Upper Paleolithic affinities and a maximum age of 28 ky, a lower layer with clear Middle Paleolithic affinities that dates around 47 ky, and an intermediate layer with mixed characteristics that can be seen as an intermediate Paleolithic phase which dates between 28 ± 2 and 38 ± 2 ky. At the time when Upper Paleolithic cultures originated in the Zagros Mountains, cultures with clear Middle Paleolithic affinities persisted nearby along the northern edge of the Iranian Central Plateau. |
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| Keywords: | Iranian Central Desert Middle and Upper Paleolithic Mirak Late Pleistocene Semnan Désert central iranien Paléolithique supérieur et moyen Mirak Pléistocène supérieur Semnan |
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