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Deciphering Iran’s ancient rock art by Andy B on Friday, 27 January 2017

An Iranian archaeologist has spent years in an almost single-handed quest across the country’s hills and desert plains to uncover ancient rock art that could be among the oldest in the world.

Now he hopes that renewed ties with the West after years of international isolation could help decipher its mysteries.

Despite its rough beauty, it is hard to imagine that the desolate, rock-strewn landscape outside the town of Khomein in central Iran conceals any treasures. But Dr. Mohammed Naserifard scrambles up a hillside, and waits eagerly at the top, his walking stick pointing out the long curled horns of a 4,000-year-old ibex deer scratched into a flat stone.

Over the next few hours, he leads on a journey through valleys and up steep slopes, revealing dozens more images of ancient hunters, tribal dances, deities and beasts.

Despite their potential world-historical importance, they have been seen by just a handful of people.

All are thousands of years old, but some of the markings, such as a line of cup marks that may have been used in religious ceremonies, could be much older.

Dutch enthusiasts who visited the area with Naserifard in 2008 dated the cup marks to more than 40,000 years ago, putting them among the oldest rock art on the planet. But getting definitive data has been all but impossible for Iranian archaeologists.

“Sanctions have deprived us of the technology,” Naserifard said. “We hope with the situation improving now, we can soon bring this technology to Iran and gain more accurate and scientific information on these engravings.”

The sanctions imposed by world powers prior to last year’s nuclear deal meant Iranian scientists were cut off from their global colleagues, deprived of modern lab equipment and the latest research and faced severe funding shortages.

Added to that was the fact that rock art has never been a priority in Iran, where pre-Islamic history can be a controversial subject.

It has been left instead to Naserifard’s personal determination.

Having read about the subject in a German magazine, he hunted everywhere for examples. Then one day in 2002, in the hills outside Khomein, he got lucky.

“We were on a picnic and all my friends were taking an afternoon nap. I went wandering and observing the rocks in the valley and I found a rock full of shapes,” he said. “I was so excited! Finding these works was like finding a treasure.”

He estimates he has since traveled more than 700,000 kilometers across two dozen Iranian provinces, unearthing some 50,000 ancient paintings and engravings.

More at Hurriyet



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