With the end of the second phase of stratifications in Shopari cave, more than 4 meters of ancient deposits from the Paleolithic period were identified for the first time in a cave area in Mazandaran province.
According to Mehr news, and according to the Public Relations of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Research Institute, Hossein Ramezanpour, head of the archeology team, said Shopari Cave, which is located 10 kilometers south of Rostamkola city in the east of Mazandaran and Mehraban River valley, is one of the largest known caves in Mazandaran, which is more than 75 meters long and covers an area of more than 700 sqm.
This archeologist added: “Shopari cave was identified by me in 1399 (2020) and because of its great importance, the process of identifying the area and boundary, and obtaining the excavation license from the research Institute of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department, immediately began in 1400 (2021) and was registered under No. 33696 in the list of national cultural heritage.”
Archeological excavation for stratification of this cave was carried out in the years 1401 (2022) and summer of 1402 (2023) with the permit received by the author, from the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, of the General Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts, of Mazandaran.
Ramezanpour pointed out: “With the end of the second stratification season of Shopari cave this summer, more than four meters of ancient deposits from the Paleolithic period were identified for the first time in a cave area in Mazandaran province.”
He added: “According to the first estimates and approximate dating, the age of the ancient remains obtained from Shopari Cave goes back to more than one hundred thousand years ago. These remains include stone tools and animal bone fossils hunted by Paleolithic humans.”
The head of the archeology board pointed out that among these findings, signs of extinct species of animals in the ice age, such as species of horses and giant bears, were found, and said: Many remains of animal bones were found, with butchery marks left on them with stone tools. Also, remains of the Neolithic period with a delay of more than 7 thousand years have been obtained from the surface layers of the Shopari cave, which shows the prehistoric connections of the inhabitants of the southeastern part of Mazandaran with the eastern and northeastern regions of Iran and the southern part of Central Asia.
Ramezanpour said that the artifacts obtained included carved clay vessels, which in terms of style and form are comparable to the flint and jeton cultures and reminded: more than 70 years have passed since the first paleolithic archeological excavations in Mazandaran, and in Shopari cave where the first human remains of the same period were found.
He added: “These findings are significant because of it being the corridor south of the Mazandaran Sea, on the route of various human species from Eurasia to Central Asia.”
The head of the archeology board pointed out that based on what was seen in the stratification of the Shopari cave, the length of the human life period was very long during the glacial and interglacial periods. It shows the high biological capabilities of the southeastern region of the Mazandaran Sea in the resilience of human species during adverse weather periods, and added: “Did human species, such as Neanderthals or Denisovans, live in this area during the Paleolithic period? It is one of the most important questions being asked now, according to the findings of Shopari cave.”
