Slianidar Cave, a Paleolithic Site 

 in Northern Iraq 



By Ralph S. Solecki 



Collaborator, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution 



[With 7 plates] 



In contrast to the study of Paleolithic archeology in the West, 

 that of the Orient has lagged behind. This is particularly true of 

 Iraq, a country that has been noted for its archeological discoveries 

 for more than a hundred years. However, it was just about 25 years 

 ago that the first archeological excavation for Paleolithic remains was 

 undertaken there, and until recently no further investigations in this 

 field had been made in Iraq. 



In this paper I shall attempt to consolidate the meager information 

 relating to the Stone Age of Iraq in brief outline, with emphasis on 

 my own investigations at Shanidar cave in northern Iraq.^ The most 



'On leave of absence from the Smithsonian Institution in 1951, I began the 

 Shanidar cave sounding on behalf of the Directorate General of Antiquities of 

 Iraq while I was associated as archeologist with the University of Michigan's 

 1951 Expedition to the Near East. Prof. George Cameron was director of the 

 University of Michigan expedition. Returning to Iraq again as a Fulbright 

 Research Scholar, and collaborator of the Smithsonian Institution, I completed 

 the sounding in 1953. The work, financed that season by a grant from the Bruce 

 Hughes Fund of the Smithsonian Institution and again by funds and assist- 

 ance from the Directorate General of Antiquities of Iraq, was a joint expedition 

 of both institutions. To Dr. Naji al Asil, Director General of the Directorate 

 General of Antiquities of Iraq, who followed the work of the expedition with 

 warm personal interest, and to his institution, is owed a debt of gratitude. 

 Not only did the Directorate General of Antiquities lend financial support to 

 the work at Shanidar at the cost of limiting the budget of their own archeological 

 expeditious elsewhere in Iraq, but they also supplied personnel, equipment, and 

 facilities as needed during both seasons of work. 



This report is a preliminary one, since the data are still in process of being 

 analyzed. About one twenty-fifth of the total bulk of the cave deposit was exca- 

 vated in the two seasons' work. During the first season, the sounding was made 

 October 6-16, November 2-15, and December 14-27, 1951. During the second 

 season the sounding was carried to completion May 9-29, June 6-26, and July 20- 

 August 15, 1953. 



889 



