"Tamtaman" Cave is one of the oldest monuments in the East part of Kurdistan especially in Iran. It is an important place for researchers and tourists.
"Tamtaman" Cave is located in the southwest of Urmia and it is one of the oldest beautiful places in this city with a great natural view for tourists and archeology researchers. Being 20 kilometers away from Urmia city, this cave is located in Tamtaman village which is also known by the same name and it is a part of the "Nazi" district. Tamtaman Cave is 1500 meters above sea level.
The researches show that this cave and the surrounding area around it is one of the oldest places where humans began to settle. The remaining signs in this cave show that humans had lived there in ancient times. These signs indicate the way these humans live, too. The researches on this cave indicate how the humans lived back then and how they collected food and used stone tools.
The history of this cave goes back to the Paleolithic era, a prehistorical period. An American researcher, Carleton Stevens Coon, proved that the history of this cave traces back to 40 thousand years ago.
This researcher researched this cave in 1949 and found 48 stone items and 3 thousand pieces of different animals' bones. Based on the primary research, Tamtaman Cave had been used only during Summe. However, many researchers and experts in this field do not agree on this.
In 1987, UNESCO organization announced that after this American researcher's works in Tamtaman Cave, some monuments belonging to the Paleolithic era have been found. The Paleolithic era goes back to 35 thousand BC.
The archeology experts claim that this cave had been used during the Urartu as a residence for humans.
The length of the cave is 35.35 meters and its width is 16.90 meters. There are two holes in the cave. The right-hand hole is 4 meters deep and 5.5 meters wide and the left-hand hole is 28 meters deep and 5 meters wide.
From this cave, people can see a beautiful view which is a river from which people can drink water. Such spectacular views have encouraged many to visit this historical and magnificent place. The temperature of this cave is cool during Summer, so tourists visit it during the hot weather.
In addition to human settlement in this cave, the researches reveal that it has also been used by animals such as foxes, squirrels, deer, moose, and horses. These animals' traces have been found here in this cave which is a sign of their inhabitance here.
A large number of Iranian and foreign tourists and researchers visit this cave annually.
Tamtaman Cave has been recorded as a national heritage by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
