Paléorient, vol. 42.1, p. 75-94 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016 Manuscrit reçu le 11 novembre 2015, accepté le 11 décembre 2015 A separation: Caspian Mesolithic

vs Trialetian lithic industry. A research on the excavated site of Komishan, southeast of the Caspian Sea, Iran

M. Jayez and H. Vahdati Nasab

Introduction

Little is known concerning the lithic industries of the northern part of the Alborz Mountains. Only few Paleolithic lithic assemblages have ever been studied within this geographical region, and only limited numbers of Paleolithic sites have been excavated (fig. 1). C. S. Coon, who has been considered by most authorities as the pioneer in the Iranian Paleolithic archaeology, carried out the first systematic Paleolithic excavations in this region and as a result of that he managed to recover lithic materials assigned to the Mesolithic layers from the two caves of Hotu and Kamarband (Coon 1951 and 1952).