Falconry petroglyphs in Iran: new findings on the nexus
between ancient humans and birds of prey
Mahmood Kolnegari1 & Mohsen Jamali2 & Mohammad Naserifard3 & Kamal Ghous4 & Mandana Hazrati1 & Connor T. Panter5 & James F. Dwyer6
Received: 6 May 2020 / Revised: 2 January 2021 /Accepted: 26 January 2021
# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Ethnoornithology is a multidisciplinary field of study that focuses on human-bird relationships and humans’ knowledge of the Earth’s avifauna. Falconry (the use of trained birds of prey—usually eagles, falcons, and hawks—to hunt wild animals) is one type of human-bird relationship, with its origins obscured in poorly understood prehistoric times. We hypothesized that falconry would have been memorable enough to prehistoric peoples to be the subject of.rock art, and that evidence of prehistoric falconry could be found in the petroglyphs of the Persian Plateau. To assess this hypothesis, we visited 13 major rock art sites in the Persian Plateau, and searched for petroglyphs depicting a person bearing a bird on the forearm. We found, identified, and photographed 11 petroglyphs depicting. falconry. Most (n = 10) occurred in the archaeological region of Teymareh, most (n = 7) showed a falconer mounted .on horseback or elephant, and many (n = 6) included an accompanying trained canid or cheetah. These tableaus
suggest that falconry was but one aspect of a suite of human-animal associations developed and maintained by the prehistoric peoples of the Persian Plateau. Based on previous surveys of the petroglyphs of Teymareh, along with other evidence, we assume that most of the petroglyphs we discovered were inscribed approximately 4000 years ago,likely making them some of the oldest remaining evidence of falconry in the world. We suggest that our work indicates that future research on petroglyphs may be useful in further exploring and understanding the relationship between prehistoric mankind and wildlife.
Keywords Birds of prey . Ethnoornithology . Persian Plateau . Prehistoric rock art . Teymareh . Zoomorphic petroglyph
Introduction
Birds of prey are a species-rich group, with over 500 species widely distributed throughout all continents except Antarctica (McClure et al. 2019). Given their near ubiquitous distribution, birds of prey have a long history with hominins (Hominidae, Hominini) not limited to modern humans (Homo sapiens). For example, based on recent hypotheses, Neanderthals used the feathers, claws, and bones of birds of prey as ornamental items (Finlayson et al. 2012; adovčić et al. 2015; RodríguezHidalgo et al. 2019).
Modern humans admire birds of prey for their piercing looks, mastery of the sky, and ability to take prey in spectacular maneuvers, epitomizing strength, power, and wealth (Umoh 2014; Greet 2015; Gersmann and Grimm.
* Mahmood Kolnegari
mahkolnegari@yahoo.com
Mohsen Jamali
jamali@gut.ac.ir
Mohammad Naserifard
iranpetroglyphs@yahoo.com
Kamal Ghous
kamal.ghous@yahoo.com
Mandana Hazrati
mandana.hazrati90@gmail.com
Connor T. Panter
c.panter1@uni.brighton.ac.uk
James F. Dwyer
jdwyer@edmlink.com
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:38
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-021-01462-w
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
2018). Studies of birds of prey remains in prehistory and
history appear in many contexts, including as musical
instruments (Morejohn and Galloway 1983), cultural symbols, art and iconography (David 1989; Holmes 2018
