Obi-Rakhmat Grotto

Obi-Rakhmat is a broad, south-facing rock shelter in the Paltau valley, near where the Chatkal and Pskem rivers meet, at about 1,250 metres above sea level. It is about 20 metres wide at the mouth, 9 metres deep and nearly 12 metres high. Archaeologists found it in 1962 during surveys ahead of the Charvak reservoir.

Some ten metres of deposits, split into 22 layers, hold rich collections of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools and Neanderthal remains, and an international team has excavated here since 1998. On site you see the grotto itself in its mountain valley.

• One of the key Neanderthal sites of Central Asia
• Twenty-two layers of Stone Age deposits
• Found during surveys for the Charvak reservoir