First Evidence of Pleistocene Archaeology on the Neyshabur Plain and its Role in Reconstructing the Dispersal of Hominins on the Northeastern Iranian Plateau

First Evidence of Pleistocene Archaeology on the Neyshabur Plain
and its Role in Reconstructing the Dispersal of Hominins
on the Northeastern Iranian Plateau

doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.3.003-012

A. Sadraei¹, O. Garazhian², and H. Sabori^3
1The Ronin Institute, 127 Haddon Pl., Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
²Alice Babs gata 3A, 393 60 Kalmar, Sweden
³Art University of Isfahan, Hakim Nezami St., P.O. Box 1744, Isfahan, Iran

The northeastern Iranian Plateau is considered a leading region in Paleolithic studies. The history of Paleolithic research in this region dates back to the mid-20th century. However, unlike the western and, to some extent, the central part of the Iranian Plateau, only a handful of sites have been identified in the northeastern part. Field studies conducted on the Neyshabur plain have provided some of the only Paleolithic evidence at four locations in the foothills of the Binalud Mountains: Dar Behesht, Mushan Tappeh, Ali Abad, and Qezel Tappeh. Our research aims to assess this evidence, provide a revised typology of Pleistocene artifacts from the Neyshabur plain, and also study the role of these and other finds in the area and analyze their significance in terms of the dispersal of Pleistocene hominin populations. We propose two main corridors on the northeastern Iranian Plateau assumed to have been influential in the dispersal of human ancestors.

Keywords: Neyshabur plain, Pleistocene, northeastern Iranian Plateau, Paleolithic, hominin populations