Neanderthal footprint discovered in western Iran

The head of the probing and salvage operation team of ancient layers in Ashkaft Azueh (Sarvanjogh), Elham Qasidian, was quoted by the Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) as saying that the most important achievement of the research work in Azueh Cave has been the discovery of stone tools which are also known as the Mousterian Zagros in the lower layers of the area.

The tools have been discovered for the first time in Islamabad area and are indicative of the spread of the extinct Neanderthal human beings up to Islamabad plain, IRNA quoted her as saying.

The archaeologist further commented on the preliminary morphological survey and study of the landscape of Ashkaft Azueh and the region. Quoting Saman Heydari Gooran, deputy of the probing plan, she referred to the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies of University of Cambridge, Britain, and Diar Mehr Paleolithic Research Institute and noted that the cave was used by human beings in the New and Middle Paleolithic eras as a temporary station for hunting.