SHANIDAR CAVE — SOLECEI 



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Zab River flowing southeastward, and the Rowanduz River, flow- 

 ing northwestward. These two rivers join at a village called Der Tesu 

 in the valley, where they cut across the Berat Dagh mountain at the 

 Bekhme Gorge. The Greater Zab River, one of the major tributaries 

 of the Tigris River, originates in the Anatolian plateau. The Rowan- 

 duz River, originating near the eastern boundary of Iraq, emerges 

 into the valley from the famed Rowanduz Gorge of Hamilton ( 1937) . 



Figure 2. — Map showing location of Shanldar cave in the Zagros Mountains of Kurdistan 



Iraq. 



The valley of Shanidar nestles behind the second range of moun- 

 tains (Berat Dagh) from the Mesopotamian steppe area. Baradost 

 Mountain flanks the valley on the northeast. Both mountains are 

 over 6,000 feet (1,828.8 m.) high. These mountains are part of the 

 system of parallel and subparallel anticlinal folds of the Zagros 

 Mountains. In the vicinity of Shanidar there is a directional curve 

 of these mountains from a general northwest-southeast direction to 

 a more westerly trend in conformity with the Zagi'os arc. Several 

 gravel terraces are present in the valley, which have been judged to 



