Nomad Iconography on Tombstones from Luristan, Iran

Abstract

In Luristan in western Iran the nomad cemeteries are scattered apparently at random across the landscape. The history of these nomads is not very well known, and until a few years ago they were themselves largely illiterate. They have lived in areas which comprise some of the very isolated mountain valleys and plains in the central Zagros mountains, and untilrecently their rhythm of life was to a great extent determined by the changing seasons. In the interpretation of the images on Luristani tombstones, it may never be possible ,with certainty, to arrive at the correct interpretation of a motif. The signs and symbols on the tombstones are comparable to a code whereby messages are converted from one form of representation to another, which means that they have to be encoded in a form that the communicants can easily interpret. In a community sharing the same religion, cultural inheritance and social background, and living at a given time in particular area, this should present no problem. But if one or more of these elements are altered, the whole structural pattern and symbolic scheme of the community will be affected: as, for example, is clearly demonstrated by the forcible settlement of nomads in Luristan which has caused an abrupt discontinuation in the erection of pictorial tombstones. The more drastic the change, the quicker the transition of symbolic values into fossilized and sometimes incomprehensible fragments of a tradition.