The Pleistocene Occupations of the Kohgilouyeh Region, Southern Zagros, Iran

Archaeological evidence indicates that the southern parts of Zagros, especially the provinces of Fars and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, supported human populations during the Pleistocene Period. The region of Kohgiluyeh, at an elevation between 500 to 3600 m asl, which is located in the southern Zagros highlands, is particularly impressive in this regard. This article presents data relating to an archaeological survey by the author which has identified 23 sites dating to the Pleistocene Period in this region. Among these sites, three were attributed to the Middle Paleolithic Period and 20 sites to the Epipaleolithic Period. In terms of typology of the sites, they include open sites, rock shelters, caves and some mounded sites. Different geomorphological landscapes are represented, such as the margins of rivers, heights and their slopes, gorges, margin of plains and landscape of rolling hills close to the Plains and rivers, each of which clearly played a role in the formation of occupations of this Period. It seems that subsistence patterns in the sites of this Period in Kohgiluyeh have been affected by two main geographical factors, mountains and rivers. The evidence presented in this article shows that access to mountainous and riparian plant and animal resources was a high priority for human populations of the Pleistocene in this region.