Middle Paleolithic Human Remains from Bisitun Cave, Iran - article ; n°2 ; vol.32, pg 105-111

F. Biglari, E. Trinkaus

Description

Paléorient - Année 2006 - Volume 32 - Numéro 2 - Pages 105-111
Résumé: En 1949, C. S. Coon a identifié comme humains deux restes fossiles provenant des niveaux moustériens de la grotte de Bisitun, près de Kermanshah, en Iran. Le premier, une incisive d’un bovidé, doit donc être écarté de l’échantillon des fossiles humains. Le deuxième est une diaphyse proximale de radius droit humain. La comparaison des dimensions de cette diaphyse à celles des radius droits des Néandertaliens et des premiers hommes modernes du Paléolithique moyen la rend proche des Néandertaliens (et des hommes modernes du Paléolithique supérieur), mais elle la sépare des hommes fossiles connus du Paléolithique moyen de l’Asie du Sud-Ouest.
Abstract: In 1949 C. S. Coon identified two fossils remains as human from well within the Middle Paleolithic levels of Bisitun Cave, Kermanshah, Iran. One, an incisor, is bovid and should be deleted from further human paleontological consideration. The second is a human right radius proximal diaphysis. Comparison of its diaphyseal dimensions to those of Neandertal and Middle Paleolithic early modern human right radii aligns it predominantly with the Neandertals (and Upper Paleolithic modern humans) but separate from the available sample of southwest Asian Middle Paleolithic early modern humans.
7 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Informations

• Publié par: PALEORIENT
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 127
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

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orient, vol. 32.2, p. 105-111 © CNRS

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Manuscrit re

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MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC HUMAN REMAINS

FROM BISITUN CAVE, IRAN

E. T

RINKAUS

and F. B

IGLARI

Abstract :

In 1949 C.S. Coon identified two fossils remains as human from well within the Middle Paleolithic levels of Bisitun Cave,

Kermanshah, Iran. One, an incisor, is bovid and should be deleted from further human paleontological consideration. The second is a

human right radius proximal diaphysis. Comparison of its diaphyseal dimensions to those of Neandertal and Middle Paleolithic early

modern human right radii aligns it predominantly with the Neandertals (and Upper Paleolithic modern humans) but separate from the

available sample of southwest Asian Middle Paleolithic early modern humans.

R

é

sum

é

:

En 1949, C.S. Coon a identifi

é

comme humains deux restes fossiles provenant des niveaux moust

é

riens de la grotte de Bisitun,

pr

è

s de Kermanshah, en Iran. Le premier, une incisive d

’

un bovid

é

, doit donc

ê

tre

é

cart

é

de l

’é

chantillon des fossiles humains. Le

deuxi

è

me est une diaphyse proximale de radius droit humain. La comparaison des dimensions de cette diaphyse

à

celles des radius droits

des N

é

andertaliens et des premiers hommes modernes du Pal

é

olithique moyen la rend proche des N

é

andertaliens (et des hommes moder-

nes du Pal

é

olithique sup

é

rieur), mais elle la s

é

pare des hommes fossiles connus du Pal

é

olithique moyen de l

’

Asie du Sud-Ouest.

Key-Words :

Iran, Middle Paleolithic, Neandertals, Early Modern Humans, Shanidar, Radius.

Mots Clefs :

Iran, Pal

é

olithique moyen, N

é

andertaliens, Hommes modernes anciens, Shanidar, Radius.

Human paleontology in the Zagros Mountains has been

dominated by the early and late Neandertal remains from

Layer D of Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1953 and 1960

by R.S. Solecki and subsequently described by T.D. Stewart

and one of us

1

. However, in 1949, the late Carleton S. Coon

excavated a series of caves in Iran looking principally for

Paleolithic archeological sites and Pleistocene human

remains

2

. He had relatively little success in the latter

endeavor, but he did find fragmentary Middle Paleolithic

human remains at Bisitun Cave, in the high intermountain val-

ley of Kermanshah in the Zagros Mountains and famous for

the 6

th

century BC mid-Achaemenid period tri-lingual bas-

relief by Darius I carved on the prominent rock of Bisitun

(fig. 1).

Even though these human remains have been listed in cat-

alogues of human fossils

3

and referred to by Coon in general

texts

4

, they have never been described paleontologically. One

of us (ET) had the opportunity to study them through the Uni-

versity Museum, University of Pennsylvania in 1978, and a

description of them is presented here.

1. S

TEWART

, 1977 ; T

RINKAUS

, 1983.

2. C

OON

, 1951, 1957. The other Paleolithic purportedly human fossil

found by Coon, a femur from Tamtama Cave, is from a cervid (T

RINKAUS

, in

press).

3. C

OON

, 1953, 1975.

4. C

OON

, 1962 : 562, although he mis-identified the diaphyseal piece as

an ulna.