Investigation of the Narrative Scene of the Stone Panel"Sixteen Humans" in the Petroglyphs of Teymareh Golpayegan

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

PhD Student of Archaeology, Faculty of Conservation and Restoration, Art University of Isfahan , Isfahan, Iran.

10.22051/jjh.2023.44758.2036

Abstract

 
 
 
Statement of the problem: Petroglyphs are considered as one of the types of ancient cultural materials, which include all patterns and lines created on the surface of rocks in the open air or the internal surfaces of caves. These cultural finds that are mostly located in the open space; Unlike other cultural materials, it is not pulled out of the soil layers, for this reason, they have been reviewed by humans over thousands of years, and sometimes new designs have been created on them. The petroglyphs have not been spared from natural erosion and human damage. The petroglyphs are new documents that by studying them carefully, many missing links of history can be found.
 Petroglyphs can be studied from different perspectives. One of the most important aspects of studying petroglyphs is the examination and interpretation of its motifs. The connection between different motifs in a stone panel can create interesting narrative scenes. Although researchers may not have the same opinion in the analysis and interpretation of narrative scenes, they can finally bring these opinions closer to each other. In order to study the narrative scenes, it is necessary that the researcher, in addition to being familiar with the types of rock patterns and the characters found on the petroglyphs of different regions and other historical monuments, possess other basic information in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, etc. The interpretation of narrative scenes after the issue of chronology is one of the most challenging debates in rock art studies.
The most important theme of the narrative scenes on the petroglyphs has been the theme of hunting, the battle of humans, the representation of the natural environment, the establishment of rituals and customs, etc. In this research, we are going to investigate and analyze one of the important narrative scenes among the petroglyphs of Teymareh, which seems to have certain complications.
Based on this, relying on field and library studies, we were able to provide interpretations for this narrative scene. Golpayegan city is located in the northwest of Isfahan province and on the eastern edge of Central Zagros. The fertile plain of Golpayegan, along with the permanent water sources of the Anarbar River and several seasonal rivers, have provided favorable conditions for settling in this area for thousands of years. On the one hand, this area has been a communication route between areas in the central plateau of Iran and on the other hand areas located in the central Zagros. Golpayegan plain is located in the middle of a fence of high and low mountains, which in the mountains on the edge of the plain and often next to water sources, there is a concentration of rock motifs, and also in the plain, there are important historical sites such as Loharamesh (related to 4th millennium BC) and Chogha Hassan (related to the 5th millennium BC) and some other important sites (Javari et al., 2012: 73).
Teymareh is the historical name of a region which, according to the current political divisions, is a part of Isfahan, Markazi and Lorestan provinces and includes the cities of Golpayegan, Khomein, Mahalat, Aligudarz, etc. This name has been used a lot since the Sasanian period and especially at the beginning of the Islamic period (Hasan Qomi, 1982). The collection of petroglyphs and rock motifs of Teymareh Golpayegan, due to the great richness of the subject, needs a more serious examination and reflection.
Often in the foothills of the mountains surrounding the Golpayegan plain and mostly next to water sources such as permanent rivers, seasonal rivers, springs and reservoirs, there is a large concentration of petroglyphs, especially in areas with a specific type of schist, which mostly have smooth surfaces for Creating roles are there. During the years of field investigation, we managed to investigate most of the areas of Golpayegan city that had such characteristics, and these continuous investigations led to the identification of thirty-two areas and an approximate number of thirty-six thousand and five hundred stone canvases. These petroglyphs with different themes such as hunting scenes, human battles, showing local customs, showing the natural environment and tools of hunting and life, etc., were created during different historical periods (Jamali, 2014: 53). Among animal motifs, ibex includes approximately seventy-five percent of animal species. Currently, some of these petroglyphs are dated in a relative way, and based on the available evidence, some of them have been dated to the beginning of the Chalcolithic period (Jamali, 2022). There are a lot of narrative topics among the petroglyphs, and it can be said that narrative is the most important feature of a rock art. In one of the stone panels in one of the thirty-two sites with petroglyphs in Teymareh Golpayegan, we see a very special scene. A unique narrative scene in which sixteen people are shown in different situations. The motif of several animals as well as a large number of tools can also be seen. For the first time, we are facing unique motifs from snare. According to the motifs and the relationship between them, the placement position and its special style, the following questions can be considered for this research.

What scene does this stone panel narrate, war or hunting?
Is there a significant connection between this stone panel and other petroglyphs in this region?
Can a relative chronology be considered for this stone panel?

 
Research method
  After investigating the area of Makuleh petroglyphs, in 2013, we decided to study its most important narrative scene in a continuous manner. Based on this, we returned to the target area and made further investigations and took more pictures. Similar motifs were also examined in other rock panels that were probably the same period as the petroglyphs in question. Graphic designs were prepared from the stone panel of "Sixteen Humans". Also, in addition to field surveys, library surveys were also conducted.
Conclusion
This stone panel is one of the unique narrative examples in the collection of petroglyphs of Teymareh Golpayegan. The similar style of the motifs of this stone panel has been observed in a number of petroglyphs of the same region, they are of similar age. The elegance in these petroglyphs is very high. A sharp pointed tool with very little load was used to create the petroglyphs. The depth of the engravings in these patterns is low and finally reaches 2 mm, also the method of creating patterns is tapping. The most important motifs of this panel are human motifs; 16 people, 15 of whom are men and one woman. The clothes of these people are different, in such a way that people who are moving in one direction have one type of clothes and people who are moving in another direction have different clothes. It is noteworthy that these people have long spears in their hands, and each group is throwing spears at the other group. Also, the motif of three animals can be seen in this panel, but due to the lack of animal motifs and the absence of dog motifs, it can be concluded that this scene is not a hunting scene. But due to the conflict between human groups and the existence of livestock or cages as well as many frames and lines, the conflict was probably over the acquisition of the hunting territory. For these petroglyphs, according to analytical methods, relative chronology can be done in the interval between the beginning of the Chalcolithic period and the end of the bronze period.
 

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Main Subjects

References

منابع
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