An Archaeological Study of Petroglyphs in Chapaqan, Meshgin Shahr, Azerbaijan

Abstract

Rock arts can be considered as the most ancient representation of human communities' artwork. Studying petroglyphs is a new research trend among the anthropologists, archeologists, ecologists and decorative arts researchers. Chapaqan complex is located in the northwest of Iran in the east part of Meshgin Shahr, a city near a famous river named 'Qarasu'. This complex is divided into two sections in Northern and Southern flanks. The discovered petroglyphs in Chapaqan contain goat (Ibex), deer, grooves and cupules. These petroglyphs are created by a stroking method and located nearby the permanent river of 'Qarasu'. The petroglyphs in Chapaqan have been examined in field and library-based studies and the motifs are categorized into two animal and geometric groups.