✦Rock shelters

🇮🇷 Iran · Cave

Yafteh Cave

Upper Palaeolithic (c.35,000–30,000 BP) · Baradostian (Zagros Aurignacian)

UP Aurignacian cave (35–30 ka, Baradostian blades, shell beads) west of Khorramabad.

🇹🇷 Turkey · Cave

Girmeler Cave

Epipalaeolithic to Early Chalcolithic (c.14,000–5500 BCE) · Anatolian Epipalaeolithic → Aceramic Neolithic → Chalcolithic

Lycian karst cave (14 ka) with Epipalaeolithic burials to Aceramic Neolithic herding above Fethiye.

🇪🇸 Spain · Rock art

Albarracín Rock Art — Pinsapar and Prado del Navazo

Epipalaeolithic to Iberian (8000 BCE – 500 CE) · Epipalaeolithic hunters, Neolithic, Chalcolithic Schematic, Iberian

Aragon pine forest 22 shelters Levantine white archers and schematic bull 6 ka BCE–Iberian, UNESCO 874.

🇿🇦 South Africa · Rock shelter

Border Cave — Early Homo Sapiens Shelter

Middle to Later Stone Age (227–44 ka to Iron Age) · Early Homo sapiens → San foragers

Border Cave is the 50×35 m west-facing shelter 600 m on Lebombo crest 365 m from Eswatini border with 227–44 ka continuous stratigraphy spanning ESA to Iron Age and early Homo sapiens fossils BC 1…

🇺🇸 United States · Cave

Mammoth Cave Historic Entrance

Early Woodland to Historic (1000 BCE – 1812 CE mining) · Woodland / Historic American

Mammoth Cave Historic Entrance in Kentucky, United States is a Early Woodland to Historic (1000 BCE – 1812 CE mining) cave attributed to Woodland / Historic American culture.

🇸🇴 Somalia · Rock art

Laas Geel Rock Art Complex

Early to Mid Holocene (7000–3000 BCE) · Early Pastoral Neolithic of the Horn (pre-Cushitic pastoralists)

Somaliland granite shelters 20 panels polychrome longhorn cattle 7000–3000 BCE.

🇷🇺 Russia · Cave

Mal'ta Burial 14 Figurine Cache

Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) · Upper Palaeolithic

Mal'ta Burial 14 Figurine Cache in Irkutsk, Mal'ta, Russia is a Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) cave attributed to Upper Palaeolithic.

🇺🇸 United States · Cave

Gatecliff Shelter

Great Basin Archaic (6300 BCE – 1300 CE) · Great Basin Archaic

Gatecliff Shelter in Nevada, United States is a Great Basin Archaic (6300 BCE – 1300 CE) cave attributed to Great Basin Archaic culture.

🇮🇳 India · Rock art

Chandra Shila — Rock Shelter West Face (Mizoram)

Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE) · Palaeolithic to Iron Age

Chandra Shila — Rock Shelter West Face (Mizoram) in Mizoram, Lunglei, Chandra Shila, India is a Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE) rock art …

🇮🇳 India · Rock shelter

Bhimbetka Satellite Shelter — IIB-33

Mesolithic (7000 BCE) · Mesolithic

Bhimbetka Satellite Shelter — IIB-33 in Madhya Pradesh, Bhimbetka outlier, India is a Mesolithic (7000 BCE) rock shelter attributed to Mesolithic culture.

🇿🇦 South Africa · Rock shelter

Diepkloof Rock Shelter — Engraved Ostrich Eggs

Middle Stone Age (130–45 ka, engraved eggs 60 ka) · Still Bay–Howiesons Poort Homo sapiens

Diepkloof Rock Shelter is the 25 m quartzite shelter above Verlorenvlei 15 km E of Elands Bay with 130–45 ka MSA stratigraphy and 270 fragments of engraved ostrich eggshell containers (60 ka…

🇺🇸 United States · Cave

Kurgan Grotto

Ancestral Pueblo (900–1350 CE) · Ancestral Pueblo

Kurgan Grotto in Ohio, United States is a Ancestral Pueblo (900–1350 CE) cave attributed to Ancestral Pueblo culture.

🇪🇸 Spain · Cave

Atapuerca — Gran Dolina and Galería Trench

Early to Middle Pleistocene · Acheulean / Homo antecessor

Key trench complex (Gran Dolina, Galería, Elefante) in Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo system, Sierra de Atapuerca, yielding Homo antecessor (850 ka, TD6), Homo heidelbergensis and earliest cannibalism…

🇨🇳 China · Cave

Xianrendong Cave

Paleolithic to Early Neolithic (20000–7500 BCE; pottery 12000 BCE) · Xianrendong–Diaotonghuan culture (world's earliest pottery)

Xianrendong Cave is the type site for the world's earliest pottery (12000 BCE) — 20 000-year stratigraphy with oldest pottery sherds, wild rice phytoliths (12000 BCE), and Paleolithic tools in…

🇹🇷 Turkey · Cave

Karaburun Cave

Middle Palaeolithic – Neolithic (70,000–6000 BCE) · Middle Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic

Middle Palaeolithic – Neolithic (70,000–6000 BCE) cave of Middle Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic in Antalya Province, Teke Peninsula (c.70000 BCE).

🇦🇺 Australia · Rock art

Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) Rock Art — Kimberley

Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene (12 ka BCE – 7 ka BCE) · Pleistocene Kimberley Aboriginal groups (Wunambal, Balanggarra ancestors)

Kimberley 100,000 shelters tasselled Gwion warriors 12 ka–7 ka oldest Australian figures.

🇩🇪 Germany · Cave

Hohle Fels Venus Figurine Horizon IV

Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) · Upper Palaeolithic

Hohle Fels Venus Figurine Horizon IV in Baden-Württemberg, Hohle Fels, Germany is a Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) cave attributed to Upper Palaeolithic.

🇦🇹 Austria · Cave

Willendorf Lower Terrace Venus Layer 9

Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) · Upper Palaeolithic

Willendorf Lower Terrace Venus Layer 9 in Lower Austria, Willendorf, Austria is a Upper Palaeolithic (35000–12000 BP) cave attributed to Upper Palaeolithic.

🇪🇸 Spain · Rock art

Valltorta — Cova dels Cavalls and Culture Park

Mesolithic to Chalcolithic (7000–2000 BCE) · Mesolithic Levantine hunters then Neolithic Schematic farmers

Levantine type site Cova dels Cavalls 57 deer-archer frieze 7000–3500 BCE, UNESCO 874 origin.

🇺🇸 United States · Cave

Dust Cave

Paleo-Indian to Middle Archaic (10,500 – 4000 BCE) · Southeast Paleo-Indian / Early Archaic

Dust Cave in Alabama, United States is a Paleo-Indian to Middle Archaic (10,500 – 4000 BCE) cave attributed to Southeast Paleo-Indian / Early Archaic culture.

🇺🇸 United States · Cave

Russell Cave National Monument

Paleo-Indian to Mississippian (6500 BCE – 1000 CE) · Southeast Archaic to Woodland

Russell Cave National Monument in Alabama, United States is a Paleo-Indian to Mississippian (6500 BCE – 1000 CE) cave attributed to Southeast Archaic to Woodland culture.

🇮🇳 India · Rock art

Lakhudiyar Rock Shelters (Barechhina)

Mesolithic to Early Historic (5000 BCE – 500 CE) · Mesolithic Himalayan foragers, Early Historic Katyuri related

Almora Himalayan ceiling 25-m with linked dance figures Mesolithic-Historic.

🇫🇷 France · Rock shelter

Castel Merle

Castel Merle (also known as Castel-Merle or Castelmerle) is a complex of ten prehistoric rock shelters (French: abris) in Sergeac, in the Dordogne department of France.

🇿🇦 South Africa · Cave

Pinnacle Point Caves — Early Modern Human Site

Middle Stone Age (164–50 ka) · Early Homo sapiens coastal foragers

Pinnacle Point is the 164,000–50,000 BP sea-cliff cave complex (PP13B, PP5-6) 12 km E of Mossel Bay where Marean found earliest heat-treated silcrete (72 ka), bladelet microliths, marine shellfish…