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.
Highlights
The rock art or petroglyphs on stone and boulder is an ancient method of expression of beliefs and thoughts for man
Nowadays petroglyphs form a significant portion of this valuable heritage, which have been seldom subject to precise research despite their multitude throughout Iran, which is a challenge in the North East of Iran (Khorasan) as the poorest region in the field of archaeological research
As mentioned by Rafifar concerning the rock art, in general the petroglyphs in most cases have no direct relationship with the land and its ancient layers
Summary
The rock art or petroglyphs on stone and boulder is an ancient method of expression of beliefs and thoughts for man. Nowadays petroglyphs (art rock) form a significant portion of this valuable heritage, which have been seldom subject to precise research despite their multitude throughout Iran, which is a challenge in the North East of Iran (Khorasan) as the poorest region in the field of archaeological research. These issues on the one hand and the poor status of the petroglyphs of Bishiklik in Neyshabur on the other made us evaluate and introduce this valuable work. This article may not be capable of full expression of the capacities and characteristics of this work, we do our best to register and record the endangered data of this valuable petroglyphs
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