All articles tagged with #zagros mountains
Archaeologists at Assur's Ishtar Temple uncovered a thick, deliberately laid sand layer beneath the foundations, traced to the Zagros Mountains, suggesting northern Mesopotamia shared southern ritual practices and prompting a revised dating of the city’s founding (c. 2896–2702 BCE).
A recent discovery in the Zagros Mountains reveals the location where Homo sapiens and Neanderthals first met and interbred, challenging previous assumptions and highlighting the region's role as a key hub in human evolutionary history, with genetic evidence showing significant interbreeding that influences modern human biology.
Scientists have identified the Zagros Mountains in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey as the likely location where Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred during the Late Pleistocene, supported by archaeological and genetic evidence. This interbreeding contributed 1-4% of Neanderthal DNA to non-African humans today, influencing various physical traits and health aspects.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Tübingen reveals that early humans in the Middle Paleolithic, between 81,000 and 45,000 years ago, had a more diverse diet than previously believed. The analysis of a site in the Zagros Mountains in Iran shows that in addition to hunting ungulates, the local hominins also consumed tortoises, carnivores, and possibly birds. This study sheds light on the dietary habits and adaptation of early humans in different environments during the Paleolithic Age.