The Hotu and Belt Caves are prehistoric sites in the country. The caves are located on the slopes of Alborz mountains in vicinity of Tarujen Village, southwestern Behshahr City in Mazandaran Province.
Hassan Fazeli, a professor at the University of Tehran, is heading the excavation team in the Hotu Cave.
Seifollah Farzaneh, the director general of the provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Department, said that the archaeological team discovered a skeleton of an infant, who was buried sitting upright, with a necklace of wolf teeth.
The infant was six to eight months old, he said, adding that the layers of the post-Paleolithic period date back to more than 12,000 years ago.
According to the official, around the infant's skull was decorated with red color and they have found a necklace with three wolf teeth.
This kind of decoration and burial is illustrating the most emotional juncture of hunters in Mazandaran Province, he explained.
The archaeological team found another cave near the Hotu Cave, which was named Shaal, which means jackal in the local language, because there were found skulls of two jackals.
1424**9417
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish