Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi

A Middle Palaeolithic Scrapper from the Masile Basin near

Tehran
In: Palorient. 1994, Vol. 20 N1. pp. 123-125.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Shahmirzadi Sadegh Malek. A Middle Palaeolithic Scrapper from the Masile Basin near Tehran. In: Palorient. 1994, Vol. 20
N1. pp. 123-125.
doi : 10.3406/paleo.1994.4990
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/paleo_0153-9345_1994_num_20_1_4990
PALORIENT,
vol. 20/1 - 1994
A MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC SCRAPER
FROM THE MASILE BASIN NEAR TEHRAN
S. M. SHAHMIRZADI
Karvansara ye Chesh'mehkhahV^Shah Abbasi hasr-i Bahrain QHara QAin-al Rash
Scale 1:1000,000
35
Masile Desert
Sahab - G.D.I 53
Fig. 1. - Location Map of the Masile Basin. Open-air Middle Palaeolithic site.
In November, in company of the General Direct
or of the Department of Tourism Research and
Studies, Mr Mohammad Hussain Hashemi, I visited
the Masile Basin, near Varamin, ca. 50 km southeast
of Tehran as part of the Silk Road Reconnaissance
Project. Midway between Varamin and the two Sa-
favid caravansrails of Ain al-Rashid and Qasr-e
Bahram, I found a stone scraper (fig. 1).
After closer examination it appeared that the
scraper could be dated to Middle Palaeolithic period.
It is made of rhyolite (1) and weighs some 300 gr.
Its dimensions are 12,3 x 8,2 x 4 cm. One side of
the scraper shows retouching of an apparently dull
edge, older retouchings of which are still visible.
The opposite edge bears much finer retouch, pr
esumably to provide the stone with a denticulate
edge, thus providing a double edge tool (fig. 2).
The environmental context in which it has been
found is the Masile Basin, also known as Qum
Desert. It includes the western extension of the great
expanse of Dasht-e Kavir in Iranian central
plateau (2). It is separated from the Kavir by the
Davazdah Emam and Siah Kuh ranges which are in
turn surrounded on the northwest, northeast and
(1) The raw material of the stone has been identified by Dr
Ali Darvish Zaded of Tehran University. (2) For a full description of the region, see FISCHER, 1968.
123
Fig.
2. - Stone scraper. Masile Basin.
southwest by masses of volcanic ranges of Saveh,
Zarand and Qum; and on the southwest by the low
ranges of Kuh-Sefid, Talheh and Malekabad.
The Davazdah Emam range consists of a mass
of volcanic alkaline, dating to the early part of the
Eocene. The surrounding area is made of Oligocne
and Oligo-Miocene sea tuffs. The rolling foothills
are covered by sediments from middle and upper
Miocene. The southern part of the range is broken
up and the plain is covered by alluvium deposits
with no Miocene strata. Both the Jajrud and Karaj
flow in a northwest southwest direction at the foot
of this range.
The Siah Kuh is the highest in the region, rising
to 1865 m. The Siah Kuh is also volcanic and is
surrounded by deposits of Cenozoic era. Snow
covers the peaks of the Siah Kuh in winter, and in
the spring melt water collects in large depressions,
providing fresh water usually until June (3). In ad
dition there is a natural spring on the northern
foothills of this range that is a source of a slightly
brackish water used by the shepherds to water their
animals.
North of the Masile Basin is located the fertile
plain of Varamin, an alluvium catch basin of the
Jajrud river. In the southwest of the Varamin plain,
the Jajrud joins the Karaj and Rud-e Shur and t
ogether they drain into the salt lake of the Masile.
At the first glance, the Masile Basin appears to be
an arid land, unsuitable for agriculture and for sus
taining a sizeable population of wild life. However,
recent effort by the Department of the Protection of
Environment (DPE) to cordon off this area as pro
tected zone, particularly from grazing by domestic
animals, have resulted in a significant increase in
numbers of wild species of animals and plants i
nhabiting this area.
Paleolithic archaeological remains found so far
in Iran are scarce because relatively little effort has
been directed to the discovery of such remains.
Nevertheless, scattered finds demonstrate that Pale
olithic groups were present and that they covered
large geographic areas with different environmental
characteristics.
Early Palaeolithic open air sites and tools are
reported in northeastern Iran, near Mashad (4) in the
southeast, Baluchestan (5), in eastern Azarbaijan
near the Lake Urmieh (6) and in the Zagros mount
ains (7). It should be noted, however, that the ev
idence from these regions for the Early Palaeolithic
period consists of surface collections that did not
include the characteristic Early Palaeolithic chopp
ers, cleavers and large hand axes. The absence of
such diagnostic tools suggests a date between the
Early and Middle Palaeolithic periods.
In contrast to Early Palaeolithic, the Middle
Palaeolithic is relatively better represented in Iran.
Most of the stone tools of this period are of Mous-
terian type including scrapers, borers, notched
pieces, and some burins (8). Most of the Middle
Palaeolithic artifacts are found in the Zagros re
gion (9). Outside the central Zagros, Middle Palae
olithic remains are reported from Jahrom, south of
Shiraz (10); Eshkaft-e Gavi, northern Fars (11), Ker-
man(12); Ke Aram Cave, Mazandaran (13) and
from Khunik Cave, Khorassan (14).
The presence of a Middle Palaeolithic scraper
in the Iranian central plateau corroborates the very
brief report of Rieben (15) and is certainly a wel-
(3) MOSTOFI, 1991.
(4) ARIA I and THIBAULT, 1975.
(5) HUME, 1976.
(6) SADEK KOOROS, 1974, 1976.
(7) MORTENSEN, 1974; BRAIDWOOD, 1960.
(8) SMITH, 1986 : 19.
(9) HOLE, 1970; McBURNEY, 1969, 1970; MORTENSEN,
1974a, 1974b; COON, 1951; SMITH, 1986.
(10) PIPERNO, 1972.
(11) SUMNER, 1980.
(12) CALDWELL, 1967.
(13) McBURNEY, 1964.
(14) COON, 1975.
(15) RIEBEN, 1955.
124
come addition to the sparse picture of the presence
of early people in Iran. Although we do not have a
reliable absolute date for the Middle Palaeolithic in
Iran, we may accept the dates from similar sites in
the Zagros, i.e. ca. 60 000-40 000 (16) for the Masile
Basin scraper.
Sadegh Malek SHAHMIRZADI
Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
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