Study and Typological Comparison of Petroglyphs in the Marzbanik Valley, Baluchestan, Iran

Abstract

Saravan County is one of the largest petroglyph areas in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast of the Iranian plateau, with a focus on the Marzbanik Valley. The current research attempts to study the petroglyph motifs there in order to explore the social conditions of its early inhabitants. An important part of the article is the classification of the motifs in terms of both style and thematics. The classification illustrates that two issues have been considered by the petroglyph makers: first is aggression and warfare, the second is hunting, mainly of caprids. These, along with the portrayal of migrating animals and probable ritual scenes are closely associated with nomadism. It is concluded that these petroglyphs had artistic connections with south India, Pakistan, Northeast Iran, and especially with Central Asia. The petroglyphs of Marzbanik Valley are presented in this article for the first time.

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