Ganj Par () is a Lower Paleolithic site located in the Gilan province in northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Located on an old western terrace of the Sefīd-Rūd River, the site was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the Center for Paleolithic Research of the National Museum of Iran in 2002. The Lower Paleolithic cave site of Darband Cave is located east of Ganj Par.

Artefacts

About 150 stone artifacts — handaxes, cleavers, a pick, choppers, and smaller flake tools — made of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, igneous rocks, and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

have been found at the site. There are some similarities between these Acheulian stone tools with those found in

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

region. The Discovery of Ganj Par thus indicates that

is part of the Acheulian territory.

References

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External links

Iran Daily Newspaper Archaeological sites in Iran Paleolithic Buildings and structures in Gilan province {{MEast-hist-stub