Ghar-e Boof
غار بوف · Boof Cave · Ghar-e Boof (Dasht-e Boof)
Middle Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic (c.80,000–15,000 BP)·Zagros Mousterian → Baradostian → Zarzian·🇮🇷 Lorestan Province, Dasht-e Boof plateau, Iran
About
About Ghar-e Boof
Zagros Palaeolithic rockshelter 2 m stratified (Mousterian → Baradostian → Zarzian 80–15 ka) with Neanderthal remains (parietal fragment), early Baradostian 42 ka, Zarzian microliths, plant macrofossils (Pistacia). Excavated 2007– by Nicholas Conard (Tübingen) shows high-altitude seasonal camp (1350 m), pollen, faunal ibex, lithic Levallois→blade transition. Key for Zagros seasonal transhumance model.
Why it mattersHigh-altitude Zagros Palaeolithic and Neanderthal fragment.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Seasonality at 1350 m?
Theories
- 01Zagros vertical transhumance
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Natural shelter occupied c.80,000 BP
- Period
- Middle Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic (c.80,000–15,000 BP)
- Culture
- Zagros Mousterian → Baradostian → Zarzian
- Builders
- Neanderthals → Modern humans
- Purpose
- High-altitude seasonal hunting camp
- Abandoned
- c.15,000 BP
- Rediscovered
- 2007 Conard survey
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.80,000 BP
Mousterian base camp
c.42,000 BP
Baradostian arrival
c.18,000 BP
Zarzian microliths
On the ground
Structures & features
33.9000° N · 47.2000° E · 1350 m · 3 mapped features
Ghar-e Boof — Neanderthal parietal
fossilParietal fragment, Mousterian level 2
33.9005° N · 47.2000° EGhar-e Boof — Zarzian microlith floor
workshopMicrolith scatter, top level
33.9000° N · 47.2005° EGhar-e Boof — Plant processing hearth
hearthPistacia charcoal hearth, Baradostian
33.8995° N · 47.1995° E
Gallery