TEHRAN -- A team of Iranian experts have recently discovered about 30,000 stone tools during their first season of excavations at a site in northern Iran.

Dating back from the Neolithic era (c9000–8000 BC) to the Upper Paleolithic (c40,000–c10,000 BC), the tools were found at the Komishan Cave near the city of Behshahr in Mazandaran Province, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday.
The studies on the artifacts suggest the region was used for human habitation sometime between 10,000 to 17,000 years ago.
“Finding researchable samples like coal for carbon dating is one the aims the team is seeking,” team director Vahdatinasab said.
The huge number of artifacts has been unearthed from a 2x2 meter trench. However, the archaeologists do not plan to expand the trench yet.
The carbon 14 experiments were previously carried out on artifacts that had been discovered at Huto and Kamarband caves, located near the Komishan Cave, during the 1950s.
Vahdatinasab described the studies as unreliable due the newness of the science in that time.
“So, we decided to search for samples of coal and other artifacts in the Komishan Cave in order to use them for a new carbon dating examination,”
The archaeologists have also unearthed animal bones, shards and remains of plants at the cave.
They have also discovered a necklace in the Upper Paleolithic stratum of the cave.
“Impaled teeth used for ornamental purpose have been found. Examples of these artifacts had previously been discovered at Huto and Kamarband,” Vahdatinasab said.
The Komishan Cave was discovered in 1988. After a brief survey of the cave, it was sealed to preserve it for future studies. The cave was reopened in 2000, but no in-depth study was carried on the site.
This season of excavations is a part of an extensive research project named “Cave to City,” which began in the Gohar-Tappeh region in early April.
The project aims to scrutinize human habitation from the Paleolithic era to urbanization in Mazandaran.
A number of German archaeologists and Polish experts in interdisciplinary fields are collaborating with Iranian scholars in other parts of the region.