Deep within a limestone grotto in the Zagros Mountains, researchers have discovered a significant 12,000-year-old obsidian tool production site. Known as the 'Highland Armory,' the cave contains over 5,000 finished blades, scrapers, and arrowheads, along with a unique ritual cache of unworked obsidian nodules placed in a circular formation around a central hearth.
Chemical analysis of the obsidian reveals it was sourced from a volcano nearly 400 kilometers away, suggesting that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers maintained extensive long-distance trade networks before the advent of agriculture. The presence of abstract carvings on the cave walls, depicting the obsidian sourcing process, suggests that the location held both industrial and spiritual significance for the early inhabitants.