An archaeologist at the National Museum of Iran has written in Tehran Times that Iran's Paleolithic record places the country at the centre of debates on human evolution.
Writing in Tehran Times, Fereidoun Biglari, head of the National Museum of Iran's Paleolithic Department, said Iran's heritage extends beyond monumental architecture and written records.
The article was published on Saturday 17 October to mark International Archaeology Day. It is a signed piece by Mr Biglari rather than a news report, and the assessments in it are his.
Mr Biglari wrote that human groups lived on the Iranian Plateau and its mountains long before cities appeared. He said they developed stone-tool technologies and adapted to changing climates.
He described the Paleolithic as the longest period of this history. He said this places Iran at the centre of debates on human evolution, hominin dispersals across Eurasia and Pleistocene adaptation.
According to the article, the earliest Paleolithic record comes mainly from stone tools at open-air and sedimentary sites. Mr Biglari named Kashafrud in the north-east and Dehtal, north of the Persian Gulf, as contributing to discussion of Lower Paleolithic occupation.
He said questions remain over chronology, stratigraphic integrity and how artefacts relate to their deposits. Resolving them, he wrote, needs careful fieldwork, reassessment of existing collections and reliable dating.
Mr Biglari named Darband Rashi Cave as a key example where modern dating methods were used. He also stressed that an artefact's scientific value depends on its provenance, stratigraphic position and associated evidence.
The article said archaeologists and cultural institutions worldwide mark International Archaeology Day on 17 October. It said the day highlights archaeology's contribution to understanding the human past, and the role of museums in communicating science to the public.
Mr Biglari is deputy for cultural affairs at the National Museum of Iran and head of its Paleolithic Department. Tehran Times reported on 8 June, citing the National Museum, that he was elected a Full Member of the International Academy of Prehistory and Protohistory.
The newspaper described him as the first Iranian scholar to receive that distinction. It said he led the creation of the museum's Paleolithic Gallery and helped establish the Zagros Paleolithic Museum in Kermanshah.
Tehran Times is an Iran-based English-language daily, and its reports on these subjects reflect the Iranian side.
Paleolithic heritage drew wider attention in 2025. Tehran Times reported that on 11 July 2025 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its 47th session in Paris, inscribed the Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley.
The newspaper described the listing as Iran's 29th World Heritage site and the first mainly Paleolithic one. It said the valley records human occupation spanning more than 60,000 years.
Tehran Times quoted the archaeologist Jebrael Nokandeh on 12 July 2025 as saying the valley "has long served as a cultural and ecological corridor linking Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia."
Tehran Times also reported Paleolithic stone artefacts on the Makran coast on 10 May 2025, and excavations at Ghamari Cave in Lorestan on 16 April 2025.
In a report on 15 November 2024, the newspaper said the National Museum's Paleolithic galleries hold a Neanderthal child's tooth from Wezmeh Cave. It said they also display personal ornaments more than 35,000 years old from Yafteh Cave.
The same report named cave bear fossils and stone tools from Darband Rashi among the items on show.
Photo: Nationalmuseumofiran / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
