The Zagros Mousterian: The view from Shanidar Cave

The Zagros Mousterian is a Middle Palaeolithic techno-typological lithic complex, found down the length of the Zagros mountain range in Iraq and Iran. It is associated with Neanderthal skeletal remains at four sites, most famously Shanidar Cave. Dating is problematic, but the indications are that Neanderthals with this cultural apparatus were present in the Zagros region from the beginning of the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5e) c.130.000 years ago through to c. 40.000 years ago during the last glacial. The humid deciduous woodland of MIS 5 was replaced by increasingly dry steppe in MIS 4 and MIS 3. Microfaunal assemblages and paleosols indicate that Neanderthals visited Shanidar Cave when environmental conditions were broadly similar to those of today, primarily in the humid phases of MIS 5 and then during brief climatic ameliorations in MIS 4 and MIS 3 that may correlate with Dansgaard-Oescheger events. Caves with Mousterian occupations at high altitudes suggest that they, too, were used by Neanderthals when conditions were not dissimilar to those of today. The indications are that the Zagros Mousterian represents the seasonal activities of highly mobile small and dispersed groups of Neanderthal foragers connected in social networks of shared cultural values and/or norms. (c) 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.