An Archeological Account of Kiumarth as Narrated in Shahnameh

Mythologists have adopted various approaches to the study of myth. But, archaeological approach to myth is unprecedented. There were some attempts like that of euhemerists to degrade the mythical gods, suggesting that they are real personages (humans) by desanctifying them. Though, none of these attempts were based upon archeology which can be considered a new science, and also is deeply different from what has been done in this research. This paper aims at analyzing the mythical character of Kiumarth according to archeology. The surprising result of this research is as follows: Kiumarth era matches Mesolithic period and Kiumarth man matches Neanderthal man and his culture matches Mousterian culture, and the climate at his era matches the last glacial climate. Methods used in this research are derived from archeology (stratigraphy and typology). This study can be a starting point for exploring myths from an archeological perspective.