Rock Art Research
WRITING MEMENTO OR SHAMANISM? TWO DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF IRAN’S ROCK ART
Abstract
Apparent similarities between hunting scenes of antelopes on tombstones belonging to the late Islamic period in vast western areas of Iran, especially in Kermanshah, Luristan and Ilam provinces, and those which are observed on scattered rock art sites in different regions of Iran have led to the assumption that skilful hunters who valued their hunting skills during their lives depicted these scenes to record memories. An interview with one of the few surviving hunters from the Bisotun area in Kermanshah, who before his death depicted an ibex hunting scene on his own tombstone commemorating his interest and hunting skills, provides support to this assumption. Obviously, this interpretation is completely different from the shamanism interpretation proposed about hunting scenes in rock art of Arasbaran in northwest of Iran.