Zagros Paleolithic Museum ({{Lang-fa, موزه پارینه‌سنگی زاگرس) is a museum in

Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, established in 2008. The museum contains a large collection of stone tools and animal fossil bones from various

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

sites in

. In Iran, it is the only museum of its kind.

History

The museum was established by

Fereidoun Biglari Fereidoun Biglari ( fa, فریدون بیگلری) () is an Iranian archaeologist and a museum curator. Career Fereidoun Biglari is co-founder and head of the Paleolithic department in National Museum of Iran which established in 2001. He is ...

and A. Moradi Bisetouni at Tekieh Biglar Baigi, Kermanshah in 2007. Marjan Mashkour, a zooarchaeologist, was in charge of animal fossil identification for the museum.

Collections

Zagros Paleolithic Museum occupies four rooms which include objects from various Paleolithic and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

sites in Iran, dating from ca. 1,000,000 years to some 8,000 years ago. The first room is an audio room where visitors can watch a documentary about prehistoric stone tools and how Paleolithic artisans made these tools. There is also a full life-size model of a

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

. The second room is dedicated to human and animal bones from sites on the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

and some human skull replicas from famous Paleolithic sites in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

. Among the faunal remains, the fossil collection from the Wezmeh cave is of prime importance. The third room contains

Lower Paleolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in ...

stone tools from various sites such as

Kashafrud Kashafrud Basin(کشف‌رود) is an archaeological site in Iran, known for the Lower Palaeolithic artifacts collected there; these are the oldest-known evidence for human occupation of Iran. Kashafrud includes a cluster of sites which are loc ...

Ganj Par Ganj Par ( fa, گنج پر) is a Lower Paleolithic site located in the Gilan province in northern Iran. Located on an old western terrace of the Sefīd-Rūd River, the site was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the Center for Paleolith ...

and Shiwatoo. The fourth room houses late Paleolithic and Neolithic stone tools, animal bones, shells and other archaeological objects which are also from sites on the

Zagros mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

References

* Biglari, F., 2010 ''The Zagros Paleolithic Museum Guide'', Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Kermanshah * Mashkour, M., H. Monchot, E. Trinkaus, J-L. Reyss, F. Biglari, S. Bailon, S. Heydari, K. Abdi 2009 Carnivores and their prey in the Wezmeh Cave (Kermanshah, Iran): A Late Pleistocene refuge in the Zagros, ''International Journal of Osteoarchaeology'' 19: 678-694. Museums in Iran Archaeological museums in Iran Buildings and structures in Kermanshah Neanderthals Paleolithic Tourist attractions in Kermanshah Province Museums established in 2007 2007 establishments in Iran