An Analysis of Motives in Rock-Carvings the Great Khorasan in the Southern of Khorasan

Prehistoric rock art forms the largest body of evidence available to us with regard to the artistic, cognitive, and cultural roots of humans. Fortunately, archeological studies on rock art is becoming more coherent in Iran and, thus far, they have led to the discovery of new facets of the prehistoric, historic, and Islamic cultures in Iran. Therefore, the study of rock art in the east of Iran can reveal valuable information pertaining to the formation, evolution, and application of rock art, from which the researchers of all three historical periods as well as specialists of history of art may benefit. In a broad-scale research project in 2013, rock carvings of South Khorasan province were examined and studied by a team from Birjand University headed by Hamid Reza Ghorbani. The present project will provided brief introductions and descriptions of rock carvings of South Khorasan province. This research is conducted using the descriptive-analytic method, and filed- and desk- studies are employed for gathering data. Findings of the research encompass 749 figures and carvings in the petroglyph style including depictions of humans, animals, plants, symbols, tools, and objects as well as inscriptions. The figures studied in this research pertain to all three historical periods: prehistoric, historic, and Islamic. Finally, some of the findings are comparable to existing samples from the same region –eastern Iran– such as rock carvings from Jorbat and Dasht-e Toos –north of Khorasan– and Lakh-e Mazaar –south of Khorasan.