Today archaeologists are increasingly seeking more objective methods for analyzing archaeological remains to obtain the most reliable results possible. To achieve this goal, methods developed in other disciplines are being introduced gradually into archaeology and their effectiveness is being tested; this is particularly the case for archaeological analysis of lithic artifacts. One such method, borrowed from evolutionary biology that has become increasingly widespread in stone tool archaeology is geometric morphometrics. This method can be used to generate information regarding inter- and intra-assemblage morphological variability in lithic artifacts and to inspect the mechanisms and causes driving this variation. In this paper, 3D landmark

Symmetry is a morphological variable that has cognitive significance and is among the most important factors for the manufacture and function of a lithic point. The central idea of this research is that symmetry, alongside the other quantitative variables, plays a role in determining the changing nature of lithic points in the Middle Paleolithic. Accordingly, this investigation takes the form of a case-study of Iranian Middle Paleolithic points from five major open-air sites of Mirak, Chah-e Jam, Mehran Plain, Kouhrang and Bandepey. The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology based on measuring the deviation from symmetry using 3D comparison and statistical analysis. Further quantitative analysis showed that there

AKHAVAN KHARZIAN M., JAMET G., PUAUD S., HEYDARI M., GU?RIN G., HASHEMI M., VAHDATI NASAB H., B?RILLON G. – sous presse. مطالعه?ی زمین-باستان?شناسی محوطۀ میرک (سمنان، ایران) با استفاده از آنالیزهای رسوب شناسی و فیزیکو-شیمیایی (?tude g?oarch?ologique du site de Mirak (Semnan, Iran), analyses s?dimentologiques et physico-chimiques.

Bayesian inference has been applied extensively to chronologies in archaeological science since it provides several advantages over the (classic) frequentist approach. One of the most important aspects of applying Bayesian methods is their capacity to consider the stratigraphic relationship in the final ages. More specifically, in luminescence dating, a crucial motivation for applying Bayesian modelling is the ability to address the systematic shared uncertainty. The recently deployed R package ‘BayLum’ was developed to ameliorate luminescence-based chronologies by employing Bayesian modelling. Our contribution aims at estimating the impact of stratigraphic order and systematic shared uncertainty on the age results.In this paper, for th

The Book of rise and fall of the third chimpanzee: how our animal heritage affects the way we live, written by Jared Diamond is one of the best works in linking the evolutionary biology and cultural complexity of human societies. The author attempted to search for many of the social behaviors of modern humans in inherited biology from ancient ancestors of humans, and has been very successful in this regard. Perhaps the only disadvantage of the book is the lack of updating its content, a subject that has been criticized. In this article, the author attempts to express the contents of a book and, in some cases, update it in cases where more recent discoveries than the time of writing the book have been confirmed by some writers.

Regarding the evolution of the production technique over a long period of prehistory, chipped stone assemblages provide many features that are recognizable and suitable for relative chronology, among which production techniques including hard/soft direct percussion, indirect percussion and pressure, especially in blade and bladelet production, are more reliable. This paper presents a research on blade and bladelet production techniques identified in the chipped stone assemblage of Komishan Cave in Mazandaran, a multi-period site presenting cultural material from Mesolithic, Neolithic and later periods including Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The lithic industry indicates the application of soft direct percussion and punch technique in

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, despi

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 whe

Until recently, the Iranian Central Plateau (ICP) was considered to have been unoccupied at the end of the Pleistocene (Marshall 2012 in ‘Missing Links: Demic Diffusion and the Development of Agriculture on the Central Iranian Plateau’. Durham University e-Theses. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3547/ ), raising questions about the mechanisms that drove Neolithic diffusion in this area. However, recent field data has provided new insights into the rise of domestication here. Reassessment of the local chronology during the Early Holocene reveals consistent occupation of the ICP throughout the Epipaleolithic/Mesolithic. Plant and animal remains indicate that Mesolithic communities pres

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 e Chehrābād Salt Mine mummies were first discovered in 1993. So far, six individuals have been identified in the mine. ree (1, 2, and 3) were found accidentally by miners, while another three (4, 5, and 6) were discovered through systematic archaeological excavations. is article shows that there are two more individuals represented in the collection, bringing the total number of mummies to eight. Osteological examination confirms that the extra bones initially placed with Salt Man 1 belong to another individual, possibly a young adult male, of unknown date, called Salt Man 7. In addition, results from AMS dating of an extra piece of mandible, which was originally placed with the skeletal remains of Salt Man 3, indicates that thi

The open air Paleolithic site of Mirak belongs to the late Pleistocene and located at the northern edge of the Iranian Central Desert. This site is currently situated at an arid plain in the southern part of modern city of Semnan and had witnessed repeated human occupations during the MIS3. Rapid climate change) through millennia and centuries (is one of the main aspect of this site, which had caused severe changes in the landscape. Sedimentological data indicates repeated climate fluctuations in the area leaving diagnostic layers of fluvial and alluvial sediments. Consequently, a shift in fauna and flora of the region has been inevitable. On the other hand, the last glacial cycle has had global effect, which had affected the Iranian centra

In the Neolithic period, the production of clay figurines in animal and human shapes became common in Fertile Crescent and soon became prevalent in most sites of the Near East. The abundance of the figurines in many Neolithic sites shows its importance by the mentioned societies. Although there is a considerable variety in the forms of the Neolithic human figurines, some striking similarities are distinguishable. One of the common form is the form of seated figurines which has been common in many Neolithic sites. It was only from the early Neolithic period when this style got common while in prior period, Upper Paleolithic, this style was not considered. The result shows that the seated figurines from Neolithic to early Chalcolithic period