Iran’s Zayandehrud river was home to humans 42k years ago

Studies on Zayndehrud in central Iran beginning from 30 years ago show that hunter-gatherer humans had presence along the river from Chelgard in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province to Qaleh Bozi in Isfahan Province, said Mehdi Yazdi, a emeritus professor of geology.

Yazdi said that excavations carried out in Hassanabad Village in Isfahan Province showed that primitive humans were hunting 42,000 years ago in the area, based on the fact that the remains of such animals as horses, sheep, goats, wild cows, turtles, fish and rhinos were found.

There were findings that indicate rhinos have been living in some area in east Isfahan Province, according to Yazdi.

The professor also said that hunter-gatherer humans were carnivores and had made tools for hunting.

Some tools have been found in Zarrin Plain in Chelgard and in caves in Qaleh Bozi, Yazdi said, adding that the similarity of tools show that hunting methods were brought to Qaleh Bozi from Chelgard.

Yazdi further explained that the study on bones and tools like abrasive stones discovered from Chadegan in northwest Isfahan indicated that hunter and agriculture humans lived in the region 40,000 years ago.

The professor also said that primitives moved from Africa to the Middle East, Iraq and Iran’s Khuzestan Province 50,000 years ago and some of them went on moving to Chelgard, Chadegan, Daran and Golpayegan. Some of the still moved to Abbasi Dam area on the banks of Zayandehrud and thence to Qaleh Bozi and Varzaneh in Isfahan.

The primitives who went to Varzaneh split to two groups. One group went to Yazd and Kerman and the other went to eastern Isfahan and then to Pakistan, as said by Yazdi.

He added that there are lots of works to do on archeological research in Zayandehrud drainage basin which requires collective studies by archeologists, geologists, and geographers.

With a length of 490 kilometers, Zayandehrud is the longest river in central Iran, which starts in the Zard-Kuh subrange of the Zagros Mountains in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province and flows eastward before ending in the Gavkhouni swamp, a seasonal salt lake, southeast of Isfahan city.

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