Qaleh Bozi

Qaleh Bozi is a complex of caves sites located about 25 km south-southwest of Isfahan, Iran; northeast of Dizicheh and north of Nekouabad and Hassanabad villages. The sites include two rockshelters and a cave located at altitudes between 1750 to 1810 m above sea level at 32° 24' N 51° 33' E. The caves are found on the southern face of a limestone mountain of lower Cretaceous age that rises to more than 500 m above the plain floor. From the cave entrance there is a commanding view of the plain below and of the Zaiandeh Rud River flowing about 2 km to the south and southeast.

Following the cave site's discovery three seasons of archaeological excavation have been undertaken there, the most recent in 2008. They discovered that the Qaleh Bozi caves attracted human groups due to proximity to freshwater in the form of a permanent river, good solar exposure in cold seasons, and the variety of landscape types (such as cliffs, slopes and plains), which promoted diversity of hunting game and plants.

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal male at Zagros Paleolithic Museum

References

Biglari, F 2008. Qaleh Bozi Caves. A brochure, Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization, Archaeology office, Esfahan Province

Biglari F, M. Javeri, M. Mashkour, Y. Yazdi, S. Shidrang, M. Tengberg, and K. Taheri and J. Darvish 2009. Test excavations at the Middle Paleolithic sites of Qaleh Bozi, Southwest of Central Iran, A preliminary report, In: M. Otte, F. Biglari, and J. Jaubert (eds), Iran Palaeolithic. pp. 29–38, Proceedings of the XV World Congress UISPP, Lisbonne, Vol. 28, BAR International Series 1968.

External links

• http://sites.google.com/site/fbiglari/qalehboziproject