Hunting in the Mountains: Rock Art Paintings of Takeh Rock Shelter near Nargeslou-ye Ulya, Bojnord

The mountainous region of northern Khorasan, north-eastern Iran, is rich in rock art complexes, including several petroglyphic and rock-painting sites. Rock paintings at Takke rock-shelter near Bojnord are one of the four recorded pictographs in the Atrak River Basin depicting a hunting scene. The panel shows a human with a spear accompanied by several hunting dogs pursuing various wild animals’ species in a hilly and wooded landscape. Most of the animals are depicted between the trees on steep footpaths. The Takke pictograms are the only identied rock paintings in Iran and the neighboring regions representing a dog-assisted hunting scene in a forest zone characterized by several plants and animals. The plant and animal diversity in the panel as, specific landmarks such as animal trails, could perhaps be interpreted as an attempt to illustrate features of the local natural landscape, which is a rare phenomenon in the corpus of Iranian rock art. Based on the analogies with other rock art complexes in Central and Southwestern Asia, the examination of specific elements in the panel, and the available archaeological data from the whole region, the author proposes a Chalcolithic to early Bronze Age dating for the pictograms at Takke rock-shelter.