Archaeological Investigations in the Zagros Region and the Distribution of Modern Humans

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Ancient West Asian Civilization as the foundation of all modern civilizations: A counter to the 'Clash of Civilizations' theory.
• Project/Area Number: 24101002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Humanities and Social Sciences
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: TSUNEKI Akira 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 教授 (70192648)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 西山 伸一 中部大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (50392551) ; 大沼 克彦 国士舘大学, イラク古代文化研究所, 名誉教授 (70152204)
• Research Collaborator: DOUGHERTY Sean ミルウォーキー技術大学, 講師 ; MIRESKANDARI Seyed イラン文化遺産庁, 前考古局長
• Project Period (FY): 2012-06-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 現生人類の拡散 / 先史時代 / ザグロス山脈 / 南イラン・アルサンジャン地区 / 北イラク・メソポタミア / イラク・クルディスタン地域 / スレマニ地区

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, we focus on the distribution of modern humans (Homo sapiens) after Out of Africa. We gathered evidence from fieldwork in the Zagros area, which was one of centers for the distribution of modern humans in Eurasia after Out of Africa. We chose the Arsanjan area in southern Zagros and the Slemani area in northwestern Zagros as the focus of investigation. In the Arsanjan area, we excavated the Tang-e Sikan cave and exposed Middle and Late Paleolithic cultural layers. We recovered important information about the distribution and development of modern humans after reaching southern Zagros. In the Slemani area we excavated the prehistoric cultural sequence after the distribution of modern humans, to reveal the Neolithization processes in the region.

Free Research Field

考古学（先史学）