Kaftar Kouh of Ferdous, New Evidence of Paleolithic Population in Southern Khorasan, Iran

Abstract

The eastern part of Iran, especially Khorasan, has remained in a completely unclear and vague state in spite of the fact that Paleolithic studies have been the pioneer of archeological research. In the meanwhile, the condition of the lower Paleolithic period is wretchedly worse, so that the only evidence of this period is that obtained of two widely-cited sites, namely Kashfroud and Daroungar River (Artian); while in other parts of Khorasan no evidence indicating the presence of Pleistocene hominin populations has been published to this date, which is largely questionable and requires a revise on the archaeology of the Paleolithic era in this part of Iran. Kaftar Kkouh site of Ferdous is among the latest Paleolithic evidence found in southern Khorasan, located in the southeastern part of Ferdous, 2 km from the city of Ferdous, on the hills overlooking Ferdous Plain. From among the Lithic artifact obtained from these two sites, Bifacial chopper-core, Unifacial chopper-core, radial cores, crude flakes, and Levallois that according to the knapping type and technique used are likely to be attributed to the late lower Paleolithic era and the early Middle Paleolithic period. In the present paper, the authors seek to provide a relative chronology for these devices in addition to their morphology, and compare them with the surrounding Paleolithic sites such as Kashfroud, Daroungar, etc.