2015 The evidence of rock art in Iranian Makran: Aps-e Goalm and Kouhbodan-e Jor Petroglyphs, Qasr-e...

ARCHAEOLOGY,

ETHNOLOGY

& ANTHROPOLOGY

OF EURASIA

Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 43/2 (2015) 23–33

E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2015, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserveddoi:10.1016/j.aeae.2015.09.003

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Introduction

In 2009, an archaeological reconnaissance program was conducted by the authors in the southern Makran (Gedrosia of Greek texts), in the southeast of Iran. During the program, besides locating archaeological sites on behalf of the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), several petroglyph assemblages were discovered in the narrow Kajou Valley (approximately 60 km long) situated in the north of the Qasr-e Qand district in Sistan and Baluchistan Province (Fig. 1). Here, two rich petroglyph assemblages, i.e. Aps-e Goalm and Kouhbodan-e Jor, will be presented. These two sites are located at an altitude between 617 to 636 meters above sea level in the mountainous areas of Chanf and Qasr-e Qand. Each assemblage comprises a large number of collective or individual motifs engraved on the surface of

R. Shirazi and M. SoltaniUniversity of Sistan and Baluchestan,

Daneshgah Blvd., 98135-655, Zahedan, Islamic Republic of IranE-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

THE EVIDENCE OF ROCK ART IN IRANIAN MAKRAN: APS-E GOALM AND KOUHBODAN-E JOR PETROGLYPHS, QASR-E QAND

Recently, many petroglyph assemblages have been discovered in the southern part of Iranian Baluchistan. This article aims to introduce two assemblages found during a eld survey in the Kajou Valley, Qasr-e Qand District. The motifs have been realized by incision or abrasion among which various human, animal and geometric motifs are grouped in hunting or combat scenes. Chronologically, they are not contemporaneous and a stratigraphy of motifs can be traced according to color of the petroglyphs. It is extremely dif cult to specify any exact date, but some age estimates have been made based on their stylistic features.

Keywords: Petroglyphs, Kajou River, Makran, Iranian Baluchistan.

dark/brown varnished cliffs illustrating a strong diversity including human, animal, and geometric representations. As the rock engravings of Kajou Valley were created in the open-air, the damage to them was massive. Not only has erosion played a major role in destruction of rocks and cliffs containing petroglyphs, but also human action can be considered as a destructive element (through imitating and creating of new engravings on the ancient petroglyphs or road construction activities).

Environmental setting

Located in southeastern Iran, Sistan and Baluchistan province covers an area of 181,578 km. The greater part of this province, Baluchistan, is a vast and arid land with low human population density. The area of this

THE METAL AGES AND MEDIEVAL PERIOD

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per year. Regarding rainfall rhythms of the region Fisher indicates “…most of this tends to fall as violent downpours on a very few days, entirely between October and April. Because of the generally impermeable character of the rock series—either through lava ows or metamorphism—the effects of rainfall tend to be soon dissipated by rapid runoff; and it is only in relatively few areas, where permeable series exist on a larger scale (or where accumulation of water can occur as a lens in a blanket of detritus), that agriculture and human settlements can develop” (Fisher, 1968: 84).

Fig. 1. Geographical location of petroglyphic sites around the Kajou Valley, southern Makran.

1 – Deskigan; 2 – Aps-e Goalm; 3 – Kouhbodan-e Jor; 4 – Kaushpad; 5 – Gatig 1; 6 – Gatig 2; 7 – Totran-Dap 1; 8 – Totran-Dap 2; 9 – Totran-

Dap 3; 10 – Azadgaz; 11 – Dirak.

Fig. 2. General view of Kajou Valley, Qasr-e Qand.

study comprises the rocky valley of Kajou River (locally Kajeh) situated to the north of Qasr-e Qand city. The topography of southeastern Iran is characterized by very tight folding of the rock layers in different directions. From physiographical point of view, the Makran region is formed by the Zagros system including the system of ridges constituting the interior hills of Makran and coastal ranges (Fisher, 1968: 81). Geologically speaking, the Makran region is less known comparing to other parts of Iranian Plateau (Falcon, 1974; McCall, 2002). In the southern part of Nikshahr and Qasr-e Qand districts, the mountains are made up of roughly east-west oriented ranges composed of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks with a sedimentary melange characterizing the general altitude of the sharp crested summits between 1000 to 1300 m. These peaks are separated from each other by narrow, deep valleys due to the direction of south/west owing rivers and their tributaries. In the Kajou Valley the folds are constituted of gypsum, limestone, and sandstone (of different ages) abundant in the Qasr-e Qand unit (McCall, Eftekhar-Nezhad, 1993: 35). According to McCall, they can be dated back to Oligocene-Miocene series (McCall, 1985: 131).

Southern Makran is extremely hot and arid in the summer. Rainfall is low and rarely exceeds 100–130 mm

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The main water source in discussed region is Kajou River. It springs from the Chanf and Lashar mountains and continues to ow for about 220 kilometers southward, passing through the fertile plain of Qasr-e Qand (Fig. 2). In fact, after con uence of three streams descending from the southern slopes of Ahouran, Chanf, and Lashar mountains, the river forms a relatively large delta near the city of Qasr-e Qand. Although Kajou River cannot be compared to the Hilmand or even the Bampur, the other main rivers in the eastern Iran, it is undoubtedly the most stable water-course in southern Baluchistan. In summer, a very thin stream of water is seen on the bed of the river, but in winter and early spring seasonal rains provide violent oods sometimes causing catastrophic phenomena.

Southern Baluchistan has a rich fauna. Nowadays, animals like the leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus), hyena (Hyaena hyaena), fox (Vulpes cana), jackal (Canis aureus), wild goat (Capra aegagrus), wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), onager (Equus hemionus), crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), and various types of snakes can be found. A wide range of domesticated animals (such as cattle, camel, goat, and sheep) play an essential role in the subsistence economy of the region (Spooner, 1988). The hot climate of Makran allows only sparse flora. The mountains are rocky and without vegetation. Only, some plants of the Nubo-Sindian type are concentrated in the wadis and alluvial plains. The most frequent species in the valleys of the southern Makran are Egyptian thorn (Acacia nilotica), caper tree (Capparis decidua), desert thorn (Lycium sp.), prosopis (Prosopis cineraria), tooth brush-tree (Salvadora persica), tamarix (Tamarix sp.), Christ’s thorn (Ziziphus nummularia), wild pistachio (Pistacia khinjuk), rohida tree (Tecommela undulata), pipal tree (Ficus religiosa), and Mazari palm (Nannorrhops ritchieana) (Sabeti, 1994). This region is a favorable area for cultivation of cereals like wheat, barley, and rice as well as fruit trees such as mango (Mangifera indica), lemon trees (Citrus limon), date palms (Phoenix dactylifera), and lote trees (Ziziphus spina-christi).

History of research

Archaeological research concerning rock art in Iranian Baluchistan is quite new. The rst person who introduced some rock engraving assemblages comprising human and animal motifs in northern Baluchistan (Khash area) was the Italian geologist G. Dessau (1960). Nowadays, we know many other petroglyphic sites identi ed all around the region (in Quetta-Ziarat area, Sarbaz Valley, Negaran Valley, Kajou Valley, and in Khash region). Regarding the rock art of adjacent regions, today there is also a large amount of information about northern and eastern Iran,

Central Asia, and Indian Subcontinent (Vahdati, 2012; Jettmar, 1982; Jettmar, Thewalt, 1987; Francfort, 1991; Francfort et al., 1993; Sher et al., 1994; Sher, Legchilo, 1999; Blednova et al., 1995; Kubarev, Jacobson, 1996; Mar’jashev, Gorjachev, Potapov, 1998; Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001; Jacobson-Tepfer, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2006; Hasan, 1989a, b; Bruneau, 2010). Until now, no serious attempt has been made to study these rock carvings scienti cally. The only exception are the petroglyphs of Qasr-e Qand which were presented in the rst conference of International Association for Asian Heritage (IAAH) held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2011 (Shirazi, Soltani, 2011).

Method of recording

During the archaeological reconnaissance in the Kajou River, we were directed by the locals to the Aps-e Goalm petroglyph assemblage, near the village of Shahdkam-Dap. Owing to the potential of the valley to offer more petroglyphs, we were persuaded to undertake a more detailed exploration in the whole region. Consequently, we marched along the valley until Dirak village recording several petroglyphic sites in a zone about 40 kilometers long (Fig. 1). After the identi cation of the petroglyphs, we distinguished different panels and labeled them, using the Latin alphabet, in order to facilitate registration and photography. Then we prepared drawings of the images (which was the most dif cult part of the work). Although the motifs were generally simple with no complicated designing, their great number and their location in rather inaccessible positions caused some dif culties. However, most of the motifs have been drawn and copied by means of a marker and a transparent nylon sheet xed on the rock surface. Then the images were scanned, digitalized, and treated by using CorelDraw and Adobe Photoshop software. Recording the variety of color-ranges resulting from changes brought about by time and erosion processes involved several methods in order to present the details and stratigraphy of petroglyphs.

Techniques of production

Incision technique is the most frequent technique of creation and the motifs are probably engraved by means of a metal/stone tool. In some cases, the outlines of the motifs are produced by means of narrow holes created through percussion by a sharp instrument. The traces of these percussions are visible on the surface of petroglyphs too. It seems that this method is more ancient because the patina of the petroglyphs realized in this manner is much obscured.


animals are pictured both immobile and running. The human motifs are shown frontally but animal imagery is illustrated in pro le. Different panels are distinguished in this assemblage whose details can be found below.

Panel 1. In this panel various motifs are recognizable (Fig. 4). Human motifs have been shown in different postures such as combat or dancing, with naked gures. This scene depicts more probably the ritual combat done before or after some ceremonies. Iconographically speaking, similar motifs are known in the rock art of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, for example at Saimaly-Tash, located on the eastern slope of the Fergana Range (Samashev, 2001). Beside them, much larger than the other motifs, is engraved

a disproportionately larger-sized human gure. It is worth pointing out that human size or bigger anthropomorphic images (called “giants” by some researchers) are identified among Upper Indus petroglyphs in Pakistan (Francfort, 1991: 126–127). However, the “giants” in northern Pakistan are isolated or in pair motifs and never found in a scene. Next to human motifs, animal representations are also visible including zebu, dog, ibex, and perhaps gazelle.

Panel 2 . This panel comprises some anthropo- and zoomorphic motifs including snakes and ibexes. Anthropomorphic images represent horned ibex-head human images with biconical bodies, dressed in long tunics. The sex of the personalities is not clear because there is no sexual indication. One of them holds a snake in the right hand and a cane-like object in the left hand (Fig. 5). A huge coiled snake is engraved on the top of the panel. Similar motifs have been reported on the glyptic art of Iran. Barnett (1966) has analyzed the images of horned goat-head human gures on the stamp seals of western Iran. Without any doubt, the most comparable motifs to our images can be found on a stamp seal that is now kept in the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of British Museum. In the center of this circular convex stone stamp seal is visible a goat-head man with a body covered by tufts of hairs and in a walking posture wearing heavy boots while a snake is pending from his left hand. Around him three huge snakes with atten heads are depicted. Two ibexes are also shown in the both sides of him. This scene is very close to the Panel 2 of the Aps-e Goalm assemblage. Unfortunately, the exact date of this stamp seal is not clear but according to the iconographic resemblances, Barnett proposes a date around the end of the 4th millennium BC. Sarianidi (1998: 173) has also published cylindrical seals of Margiana (southern Turkmenia), dated to the Bronze Age, depicting an anthropomorphic

Fig. 3. General view of Aps-e Goalm assemblage.

Fig. 4. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 1, human and animal motifs.

Description of the assemblages

Aps-e Goalm assemblage. On the west side of the Kajou River, just opposite the village Shadkam-Dap (26°19.5 56 N; 60°42 97 E) are located the Aps-e Goalm series of petroglyphs carved on the brown-faced cliffs (Fig. 3). About eighty motifs are created on a rocky wall offering various panels such as an archer hunting gazelle, felines attacking gazelles, combat scenes, etc. Animal motifs in this assemblage include ibex (Capra aegagrus), aurochs (Bos primigenius), gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), zebu (Bos indicus), snake, dog (Canis lupus familiaris), and felines. The

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Fig. 5. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 2, anthropomorphic horned gures and animal motifs (snake and ibex).

ibex-head “giant”. The horned personalities in association with serpents, which probably indicate their celestial aspects, are very common in the Elamite glyptic art of the 3rd millennium BC too (Amiet, 1986: Fig. 113.5).

Panel 3. On this panel, two felines are attacking two creatures which are probably gazelles. The body movement of the felines indicates a high sense of dynamism. The prey is also gamboling, or maybe merely in escaping posture. On the left of the panel, motifs of a zebu and an ibex can be seen (Fig. 6).

Panel 4. There is a personality with a ag-like object in his hand. Its hair dressing is shown in a speci c manner perhaps suggesting a wig which is quite popular in ancient rock art. A caprid (goat or ibex?) is lying before it, and on its upper part there is an unrecognizable eroded motif (Fig. 7). The anthropomorphic motif is very similar to the human representations of Panel 2. This scene is very similar to the concept of female goddess in the Central Asian Bronze Age art. In the glyptic art of Oxus Civilization at the end of the 3rd millennium and early 2nd millennium BC, the co-existence of a goddess, goats, and snakes is depicted (Benoit, 2003: Fig. 262).

Panel 5. This panel illustrates a hunting scene (Fig. 8). An archer is shown frontally and an ibex with long curved horns is engraved in pro le. At the base of the panel, a two-humped camel (Camelus bactrianus) is shown. The camel images have been found in a vast geographical zone extending from the Altai in the north (Mukhareva, 2007) to the Makran in the south. In the ancient times, the Makran could be considered as the southern habitat of Bactrian camel. In Near Eastern textual and iconographical sources of the late 2nd–1st millennia BC, domesticated camel is attested, which was widely used by the Near Eastern peoples (Kuzmina, 1963: 39). But in eastern Iran, at Shahr-i Sokhta, the existence of camel (Camelus sp. cf. bactrianus) is proved by the presence of its bones, remains of eece, and dung

Fig. 6. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 3, animal motifs, felines hunting antelopes.

Fig. 7. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 4, human gure beside a recumbent ibex.

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is attacking a gazelle. A naked man has been represented with ostentatiously hanging arms (Fig. 10, A).

Panel 8. Representation of two ibexes with long curved horns and a radiant circle motif (Fig. 10, B). Three original motifs should be mentioned, including those found in this panel: a human motif, a zebu, and some undetermined animals (Fig. 11).

Most human motifs have been shown with two triangular bodies as is also the case for animal imagery. According to their iconographic styles, it is likely that

in a well-known archaeological context dated back to the rst quarter of the 3rd millennium BC (Caloi et al., 1977:

210–211). Two aurochs have been engraved in running posture. The auroch motifs are very important because the habitat of these animals is grass-covered lands which nowadays can be found in the temperate regions.

Panel 6. This is a hunting scene showing two archers hunting gazelles and ibexes (Fig. 9).

Panel 7. This panel presents the motifs of a man, two ibexes, a goat, a gazelle, and a feline. On the top, a feline

Fig. 8. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 5, hunting scene representing human and animal motifs (buffalos, ibexes, and camel).

Fig. 9. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 6, hunting scene representing archers, ibexes, and antelope.

Fig. 10. Aps-e Goalm, Panels 7 (A) and 8 (B), human and animal motifs.

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most of them belong to the 4th millennium BC. The human and animal torsos in triangular form are quite common on the pottery of the 4th millennium BC in Baluchistan and Central Asia (Mehrgarh eld reports…, 1995: 149, 393). Similar motifs have been discovered on the ceramics of Arisman in the Central Iranian Plateau (Vatandoust, Parzinger, Helwing, 2011), Togau in the Kalat region, West Pakistan (Fig. 12, 2) (De Cardi, 1959, 1965), and Mehrgarh in the Quetta Valley, northern Baluchistan (depicting dancing figures; Fig. 12, 3) (Mehrgarh eld reports…, 1995: 149, 393). On a potsherd found at Mehrgarh, MR2, dated back to period III (about 4000–3500 BC), anthropomorphic motifs are depicted with triangular body in acrobatic posture (Fig. 12, 4). The same could be added for bi-conical and triangular animal motifs. The tradition of depicting the human torso in triangular form is not limited only to ceramic motifs. Many small-size terracotta or stone human gurines of this period are produced in the same manner too. Among the gurines found at Ulug Depe in Turkmenistan, there is a gypsum small-size human gurine whose torso is completely triangular (Lecomte et al., 2002).

Kouhbodan-e Jor assemblage. On the east side of the Kajou River, between Shadkam-Dap and Gardak-Dap villages and in the narrowest part of the valley (26°20.4 38 N; 60°41.4 51 E) a pyramid-shaped rock is situated that is covered with petroglyphs (Fig. 13). There are a total of seventy motifs divided into different panels, with scenes such as a man controlling a horse (Equus ferus caballus), a man riding a camel, herds of ibexes, and a number of individual animal motifs showing ibexes, camels, horses, and geometric motifs. The technique of carving of these images is not of the same quality as the Aps-e Goalm assemblage. The animals are pictured in immobile postures. They are illustrated in profile while human motifs are shown frontally.

Panel 1 . This panel contains anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs (Fig. 14). One motif is very useful for dating of images. Here, a man is controlling the animal (probably a horse) by taking the muzzle. Some ibexes are shown in the left side of the panel beside some unidenti able creatures. The horse image is attested at an early period in the mobile art as well as on the rock art of Inner Asia and Iranian Plateau, from Altai to Baluchistan. As Francfort pointed out, “…after having been hunted during a long period, the horse became the main mount and domestic animal very familiar to the nomadic peoples from the 1st millennium BC to our days…

Fig. 11. Aps-e Goalm, Panel 8, isolated human and animal motifs.

Fig. 12. Human motifs. 1 – Qasr-e Qand, Aps-e Goalm, Panel 1; 2 – Kalat region, West Pakistan, Togau ware potsherd (after (De Cardi, 1959: Fig. 3)); 3, 4 – Quetta Valley, Mehrgarh, potsherds (after (Mehrgarh eld

reports…, 1995)).

Fig. 13. General view of the Kouhbodan-e Jor assemblage.

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The Iron Age, also called the period of early nomads, people riding horses often appear in hunting to hounds scenes on a great number of rock surfaces. Most of the time the hunter, the rider, shoots an arrow to the game he is chasing with his hounds” (Francfort, 2011: 54).

In Iran, the introduction of the domesticated horse corresponding to the Indo-Aryan peoples dates back to the Iron Age. Archaeological evidence af rms the presence of the domesticated horse in northern Iran at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. At Marlik, near Roudbar, Negahban reported three horse burials (tombs 49, 51, and 53) as well as a lot of bridles and bits (Negahban, 1996: 305). Horse motifs appear for the rst time on the ceramic vessels of the Iron Age necropolis of Tepe Sialk (Sialk VI) near Kashan in the Central Iranian Plateau, dated back to the 1st millennium BC (Ghirshman, 1938). In Baluchistan, the motifs of horse appeared on the potsherd coming from Londo-Damb and Gushanak in the Kalat region (De Cardi, 1951: Fig. 1, 2, 8). These motifs represent tamed domesticated horses with riders. Comparable motifs also have been previously identi ed at Mir Malas Cave in Luristan dated back to the Iron Age (McBurney, 1969). Such dating could be applicable to the Qasr-e Qand petroglyphs too.

Panel 2. On this panel, we nd the human motifs and ibexes. But they are not contemporaneous because the shades of patina are not the same. It seems that anthropomorphic images are younger because the color is brighter (Fig. 15). The technique of engraving is coarser than Aps-e Goalm images.

Panel 3. This is the richest panel containing different animal and anthropomorphic images. Among the animals, horses, Bactrian camels, ibexes, goats, zebus, and dogs are visible. Two human motifs are shown in this panel: one stand up in the front of a zebu and another

Fig. 14. Kouhbodan-e Jor, Panel 1, human and animal motifs.

Fig. 15. Kouhbodan-e Jor, Panel 2, human motifs and ibexes.

Fig. 16. Kouhbodan-e Jor, Panel 3, various human and animal motifs.

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riding a Bactrian camel (Fig. 16). The zebus have the rectangular body very common among the animal motifs of the two assemblages. Two circular motifs are engraved in the middle of the panel; footprints are also available.

Discussion

The petroglyphs of Qasr-e Qand, with their large diversity, are quite useful and important in completing the general view of the ancient cultures in southeastern Iran. The stylistic variation of the petroglyphs is the result of their production in different periods and thus re ects the cultural peculiarities of different epochs. The effects of the environment on the emergence and evolutionary development of the motifs are quite evident so that the animal motifs in the petroglyphs are comparable to the indigenous species of wild life in Baluchistan. Stylistically, the petroglyphs of the southern Makran represent a wide range in the variety of images comprising almost stylized motifs. Generally, the images with an obscured patina are carved in a naturalistic way whereas more recent images are very abstract and usually produced by pecking and scratching techniques.

Dating petroglyphs is the most dif cult task. The conventional methods of dating in archaeology (e.g., stratigraphic, physical, chemical, etc.) are either totally inapplicable or can be used only in limited cases. Meanwhile, by the lack of archaeological excavations and absence of coherent publication on the petroglyphs of Baluchistan it is very hard to propose a date for these assemblages. However, an accurate identi cation and classi cation of motifs as well as a precise analysis of their style can help to establish an exhaustive typology of motifs and therefore ultimately facilitate their dating.

Although the style alone is not enough for dating petroglyphs, the images of species of extinct fauna such as aurochs show that carving of motifs on the surfaces of rocks began very early in this mountainous region. It should however be noted that dating an image cannot be extended to a full collection of motifs in a panel because the cliffs had been acted like a canvas bearing images, ideas, and concepts in the course of the time.

As a suggestion, similarly emphasized by Sher and his colleagues, this study proposes the comparison of petroglyphs with the motifs seen on other more or less well-dated petrogylphic sites or archaeological contexts (Sher et al., 1994). Comparison of our data to those discovered in southern Siberia, Central Asia, northern Khorasan (Jorbat region), and in Pakistan also shows some degree of similitude (Vahdati, 2012; Jettmar, Thewalt, 1987). Comparison of the images identi ed in our corpus with similar motifs on the ceramic vessels of

the 3rd millennium BC also af rms a strong uniformity and similarity (Fig. 17). Many excavated sites in Iranian and Pakistanian Makran reveal an abundance of bovine and caprid motifs on the pottery. Their stylistic features in some cases are exactly the same as those we nd in the petroglyphs. So, it can be accepted as a base for relative dating of the petroglyphs of southern

Fig. 17. Comparison of zebu motifs with similar representation motifs on ceramic vessels and Indus seals of the

3rd millennium BC. 1 – Qasr-e Qand motifs; 2 – Shahdad, chlorite vessel (after (Hakemi, 1997: 230)); 3 – Dasht Valley, Pakistani Makran, Miri Qalat, jar (after (Didier, 2013: Fig. 86)); 4, 6 – Jiroft, chlorite vessel and jar (after (Majidzadeh, 2003)); 5 – Pakistan, Baluchistan, a Kulli type jar (after (Sajjadi, 2008)); 7 – Indus Valley, Mohenjo-Daro, stamp seal (after (Les cités oubliées…, 1989: Fig. 215); 8 – Quetta Valley, potsherds (after

(Fairservis, 1956: 308)).

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Makran. A general analysis of the images reveals various styles and techniques that could be attributed to different chronological phases. Based on the technique of production, styles, and comparison between degrees of patina we may assume that the oldest images of our corpus could be dated back to the Bronze Age. However, production of petroglyphs did not cease in the antiquity and continued up to recent times.

Conclusions

New archaeological surveys in Makran have revealed a number of petroglyph assemblages such as Aps-e Goalm and Kouhbodan-e Jor. The analysis of the petroglyphs demonstrates beyond doubt that these examples of rock art are among the richest of the kind in Baluchistan. This richness is re ected in the diversity of motifs as well as their techniques of production. Likewise it shows that Qasr-e Qand region is a favorable zone for searching different aspects of rock art in Baluchistan. It is clear, from the degree of patina, that earlier engravings are more realistic in style than recent ones. By comparing the images of Aps-e Goalm to those of Kouhbodan-e Jor, we can conclude that the former are earlier. Based on comparison made with ceramic and other archaeological nds, it seems that the petroglyphs of Aps-e Goalm can

be dated back to the early Bronze Age (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC) and Kouhbodan-e Jor to late Bronze Age/Iron Age. A complete study of the whole region would be useful to acquire an exhaustive picture of the Baluchistan rock art and its chronology.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank H.-P. Francfort, L. Bruneau, and D. Cheremesin for their useful suggestions and bibliographic notifications. We are also grateful to D.A. Warburton for reviewing the English text.

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Received January 24, 2014.Received in revised form January 30, 2014.

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