Malaverd

Malaverd is an archaeological site in the north of Kermanshah, in Iran. It is located in the Tang-e Malaverd valley, at the western end of Mount Meywala, about 8 km (26,247 ft) from the west of Taq-e Bostan. Malaverd is one of multiple Paleolithic cave sites in the south of Mount Meywala.

Malaverd

Malawerd
Location in Iran
Alternative name	Tang-e malaverd
Location	Kermanshah Province, Iran
Region	Kermanshah
Coordinates	34°24′24.72″N 47°5′30.76″E
Altitude	1,460 m (4,790 ft)
Type	cave
Length	16m
Width	18m
History
Founded	ca. 60,000 BP
Abandoned	ca. 2,000 BP
Periods	Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Chalcolithic, Iron Age III, Parthian
Cultures	Mousterian, Baradostian
Associated with	Neanderthal
Site notes
Excavation dates	2012
Archaeologists	Sonia Shidrang
Condition	Registerd in the Iran National Heritage List, 12019
Ownership	Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Iran

Discovery

The site was recorded during a survey conducted be Fereidoun Biglari in 1999 ^[1] and registered in the Iran National Heritage List in 2005.^[2]

Excavation

The site was excavated by a team of archaeologists under the direction of Sonia Shidrang in August 2012.^[3] The site contained a 170 cm thick sequence of archaeological deposits. The excavations revealed that the cave was occupied during the Middle Paleolithic (c.  60,000 to 40,000 years ago), Upper Paleolithic (c.  35,000 to 28,000 years ago), Chalcolithic, Iron Age III, and Parthian.

The cave is the first Upper Paleolithic site in the Kermanshah region that was excavated by an Iranian archaeologist and the first dated Upper Paleolithic site in the region.^[4]

See also

• Do-Ashkaft Cave - Another important cave site near Malaverd