Kobeh Cave
Basic information
Sample name: Kobeh Cave
Reference: C. W. Marean and S. Y. Kim. 1998. Mousterian large-mammal remains from Kobeh Cave: Behavioral implications for Neanderthals and early modern humans. Current Anthropology 39:S79-S113 [ER 3713]
Geography
Country: Iran
State: Kermanshah
Coordinate: 34° 18' 51" N, 47° 3' 54" E
Coordinate basis: based on nearby landmark
Time interval: Late Pleistocene
Min Ma: 0.035
Age basis: other
Geography comments: "Kobeh is a small cave in the west-central Zagros Mountains, 1300 m above sea level near the Tang-i-Knisht Valley, a side valley of the main Kermanshah Valley near the town of Kermanshah" (basis of coordinate).
"There are no radiometric dates from Kobeh, so the dating is no more precise than the documented range of the Mousterian in the Middle East (35,000 to possibly before 250,000 BP)".
"There are no radiometric dates from Kobeh, so the dating is no more precise than the documented range of the Mousterian in the Middle East (35,000 to possibly before 250,000 BP)".
Environment
Lithology: not described
Taphonomic context: cave,human accumulation
Archaeology: stone tools
Habitat comments: "The cave is approximately 12 m deep by 7 m wide at the mouth. The Mousterian deposit lies 1.6 m below the surface and penetrates another 1.6 m where a rocky roof-fall overlies an apparently sterile horizon".
"The Zagros Mousterian assemblage typically shows heavy utilization of lithic raw material with high frequencies of retouched tools, high ratios of cores to flakes, and numerous retouched pieces".
Numerous bone surface modifications including cut marks, hammerstone percussion marks, and carnivore tooth marks "substantiates a pattern of hunting by the Middle Paleolithic hominids that inhabited Kobeh Cave".
"The Zagros Mousterian assemblage typically shows heavy utilization of lithic raw material with high frequencies of retouched tools, high ratios of cores to flakes, and numerous retouched pieces".
Numerous bone surface modifications including cut marks, hammerstone percussion marks, and carnivore tooth marks "substantiates a pattern of hunting by the Middle Paleolithic hominids that inhabited Kobeh Cave".
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,ungulates
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 122 specimens
Sampled by: Bruce Howe
Years: 1959
Sampling comments: "Excavations by Bruce Howe in 1959 were carried out with a 2 x 2.5 m pit in the front quarter of the cave. All lithic and faunal material was saved, including even very small (<1 cm) fragments".
"The Mousterian deposits were without natural stratigraphic distinctions and were therefore excavated in arbitrary 10-cm levels. All sediment was screened by the excavators".
"The Mousterian deposits were without natural stratigraphic distinctions and were therefore excavated in arbitrary 10-cm levels. All sediment was screened by the excavators".
Metadata
Sample number: 3935
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2022-03-29 12:26:27
Modified: 2022-03-29 01:29:30
Abundance distribution
12 species
4 singletons
total count 122
geometric series index: 23.3
Fisher's α: 3.299
geometric series k: 0.6903
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6873
Shannon's H: 1.5711
Good's u: 0.9675
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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| Ovis gmelini | 2 | 30 kg |
| "Ovis orientalis" - also 180 Caprinae indet. "wild goat/wild sheep" | ||
| Gazella subgutturosa | 1 | 17 kg grazer |
| Bos primigenius | 2 | |
| Cervus elaphus | 8 | 104 kg |
| Sus scrofa | 1 | 54 kg herbivore |
| Equus sp. small | 5 | |
| "small equid" | ||
| Equus hemionus | 59 | grazer |
| Vulpes sp. | 3 | |
| Canis lupus | 1 | 43 kg carnivore |
| Hyaenidae indet. | 1 | |
| "Crocuta/Hyaena" | ||
| Equus sp. large | 8 | |
| "very large extinct equid" | ||