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Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran

Received: 5 April 2016     Accepted: 14 April 2016     Published: 27 April 2016
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Abstract

Neyshabur County is located in the North East of Iran. This county borders to Binaloud mountain range and Qochan County from the north, to Esferayen and Sabzevar counties from the west, to Kashmar and Torbate heydarieh counties from south and to Mashhad County from east. Neyshabur County has witnessed human settlements in different periods because of fertile plains and abundant hydrological resources. Bishiklik petroglyphs are located within 30 km of Neyshabur -Kashmar road (6 km southeast of Kalateh Hassan Abad village), which has direct access via a dirt road passing through the village. A few motifs have been engraved on the smooth surface of a large boulder by percussion and carving techniques. The depth and color of the motifs even those in the same scene is different, so that the depth of some of the motifs has been eroded over time through the effect of natural factors and is not visible since it has become level with the boulder. Stone engraving motifs include stylized animal motifs such as canines as well as a human on horseback motif, mountain goat with large exaggerated backward horns, which forms the majority of the motifs in petroglyphs of Bishiklik. Unfortunately, despite the large number of Rock engravings (rock art) throughout Iran, this rock art has been rarely subject to research and precise analysis. This challenges becomes complicated in North East of Iran (Khorasan) as the poorest region in the field of archaeological research. These issues as well as the poor status of Bishiklik petroglyphs made us evaluate and introduce this valuable relic.

Published in International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11
Page(s) 11-16
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Petroglyphs, Bishiklik, Animal Motifs, Neyshabur

References
[1] Basafa, H., 2011. Cultures of the late Bronze and early Iron in Neyshabur Plain based on archaeological excavations of Firoozeh Township. Archaeology PhD thesis, Tarbiat Modarres University.
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[3] Bourny, Mc, 1969. Preliminary report of survey and excavation of caves in Kuhdasht, translated by Zabih Allah Rahmatian, archaeology and art of Iran, No. 3, pp. 14-16.
[4] Pedram, M. 1994. "Civilization of Mahabad", a collection of monuments from Qaleh dom to Takhte Soleyman, Tehran, Hur publishing.
[5] Rezaei, M. and Judy, Kh. 2010. Halush cave paintings; introduction, description, interpretation and chronology: web site of Journal of promotion and cultural anthropology: www.Anthropology.ir
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[7] Rafifar, J. 2004. Rock in the North West of Iran (Hurand rock engravings), International Conference on Iranian Archaeology, North-West constituency. Pp. 111.
[8] Rafifar, J. 2005. Rock engravings of Arasbaran: Tehran, Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization.
[9] Riyazi, MR, 1992. Archaeological perspective of Neyshabur, Magazine of History and Archaeology, Year VI, No. 1, 2:20-31.
[10] Shahrzadi, D. 1997. Mountain rock art of Arnan in Yazd, archaeological reports. Pp. 133-142.
[11] Taheri, A., 2005. Introduction to the geography and history of Neyshabur, Neyshabur: mega city.
[12] Farhadi, M., 1998. Museums in wind, an essay on the anthropology of art (report of symbols and new found rock symbols of Timereh), Tehran, Allameh Tabatabai University.
[13] Garazhyan, O. 2008. Process of transition from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age in the North East of Iran, Tehran University Ph.D. dissertation in archaeology.
[14] Labaf Khaniki, M., 1997. Introducing Lakh Mazar rock engravings of Birjand, Iran Obituary First Gathering in Archaeology, Susa, 14-17 April 1994, Volume 1. Tehran: Cultural Heritage Organization, pp. 338-319.
[15] Labaf Khaniki, M., 2009. Geochronology, archaeological research and interdisciplinary Studies, University Jihad, Tehran University, 113-126.
[16] Mohammadi Qasrian, S, 2007 a. Studies of rock engravings in Iran: Problems and Solutions: Ancient research, new volume, second year, No. 3, pp. 15-18.
[17] Watt, Kent, 2007. Foundations of environment. Translated by Vahabzadeh GH, Astan Quds Razavi press, Ninth Edition.
[18] Vahdati, AA, 2010. Canvas stone: evaluation report of two sets of rock art in Northern Khorasan Province (Jorbat and Upper Nargasluyi). Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of North Khorasan province.
[19] Velayati, A, 1988. Groundwater Resources and issues in Neyshabur Plain, Geographical Research Quarterly, 8: 96-123.
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  • APA Style

    Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, Saber Soleymani, Kourosh Ahmadi. (2016). Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran. International Journal of Archaeology, 4(2), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11

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    ACS Style

    Mohammad Hossein Rezaei; Saber Soleymani; Kourosh Ahmadi. Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran. Int. J. Archaeol. 2016, 4(2), 11-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11

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    AMA Style

    Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, Saber Soleymani, Kourosh Ahmadi. Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran. Int J Archaeol. 2016;4(2):11-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11,
      author = {Mohammad Hossein Rezaei and Saber Soleymani and Kourosh Ahmadi},
      title = {Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran},
      journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
      volume = {4},
      number = {2},
      pages = {11-16},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20160402.11},
      abstract = {Neyshabur County is located in the North East of Iran. This county borders to Binaloud mountain range and Qochan County from the north, to Esferayen and Sabzevar counties from the west, to Kashmar and Torbate heydarieh counties from south and to Mashhad County from east. Neyshabur County has witnessed human settlements in different periods because of fertile plains and abundant hydrological resources. Bishiklik petroglyphs are located within 30 km of Neyshabur -Kashmar road (6 km southeast of Kalateh Hassan Abad village), which has direct access via a dirt road passing through the village. A few motifs have been engraved on the smooth surface of a large boulder by percussion and carving techniques. The depth and color of the motifs even those in the same scene is different, so that the depth of some of the motifs has been eroded over time through the effect of natural factors and is not visible since it has become level with the boulder. Stone engraving motifs include stylized animal motifs such as canines as well as a human on horseback motif, mountain goat with large exaggerated backward horns, which forms the majority of the motifs in petroglyphs of Bishiklik. Unfortunately, despite the large number of Rock engravings (rock art) throughout Iran, this rock art has been rarely subject to research and precise analysis. This challenges becomes complicated in North East of Iran (Khorasan) as the poorest region in the field of archaeological research. These issues as well as the poor status of Bishiklik petroglyphs made us evaluate and introduce this valuable relic.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Bishiklik Petroglyphs in Neyshabur County, Northeastern Iran
    AU  - Mohammad Hossein Rezaei
    AU  - Saber Soleymani
    AU  - Kourosh Ahmadi
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    T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
    JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
    JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
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    EP  - 16
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7595
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20160402.11
    AB  - Neyshabur County is located in the North East of Iran. This county borders to Binaloud mountain range and Qochan County from the north, to Esferayen and Sabzevar counties from the west, to Kashmar and Torbate heydarieh counties from south and to Mashhad County from east. Neyshabur County has witnessed human settlements in different periods because of fertile plains and abundant hydrological resources. Bishiklik petroglyphs are located within 30 km of Neyshabur -Kashmar road (6 km southeast of Kalateh Hassan Abad village), which has direct access via a dirt road passing through the village. A few motifs have been engraved on the smooth surface of a large boulder by percussion and carving techniques. The depth and color of the motifs even those in the same scene is different, so that the depth of some of the motifs has been eroded over time through the effect of natural factors and is not visible since it has become level with the boulder. Stone engraving motifs include stylized animal motifs such as canines as well as a human on horseback motif, mountain goat with large exaggerated backward horns, which forms the majority of the motifs in petroglyphs of Bishiklik. Unfortunately, despite the large number of Rock engravings (rock art) throughout Iran, this rock art has been rarely subject to research and precise analysis. This challenges becomes complicated in North East of Iran (Khorasan) as the poorest region in the field of archaeological research. These issues as well as the poor status of Bishiklik petroglyphs made us evaluate and introduce this valuable relic.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Humanities, Department of Archaeology in University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran

  • Faculty of Humanities, Department of Archaeology in University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran

  • Faculty of Humanities, Archaeology, Islamic Azad University of Kazerun, Kazerun, Iran

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