Ancient Petroglyph
© Tehran Times
Teheran - Nogle forhistoriske indbyggere på det iranske plateau migrerede til Amerika, siger en iransk arkæolog og forsker, baseret på vidnesbyrd om ligheder mellem petroglyffer og hulmalerisymboler i det centrale Iran og dem, der findes i Amerika.

"Efter mange års udforskning af gamle malerier inde i Irans huler og bjerge og andre dele af kloden er der opnået fantastiske resultater i denne henseende," fortalte Mohammad Nasserifard til IRNA i et interview, der blev offentliggjort tirsdag.

"De gamle malerier af hulevægge og bjerge i Iran er blevet sammenlignet med malerier i andre dele af verden. Deres ligheder i udseende og motiver har været "fantastiske", ifølge citater fra professorer Jan Brouwer og Gus van Veen," sagde Nasserifard tilføjer "Hans forskning og fund præsenteres for entusiaster og forskere for første gang."

The archaeologist underlined that such petroglyphs may be a missing link in human history and arts.

"Appearance similarities, artistic styles, and uniform themes of ancient petroglyphs and cave paintings of this land (Iran) reveal many missing links in human history and arts one of which is the resemblance of ancient artifacts in Iran with ones found in the American continent."

"The discovery of equestrian motifs with leopard-like horses in Iran, which the Indians called 'Appaloosa', is one of the reasons for this migration, which can be seen on the walls of caves and mountains of Qasr-e-qand and Neyshekar regions which date from 11,000 years ago. They are similar to the leopard-like horses of Baluchestan."

Nasserifard said French archaeologists had previously said that paintings of leopard horses on the Maral Cave showed a special species of horse, which lived only in Europe, while women living in Balochistan 11,000 years ago saw such a genuine Iranian horse. They are domesticated and seen riding on the walls of the mountains of Balochistan, and the footprints of the Indian dream horse, Apalusa, are the same leopard horse taken from ancient Iran by immigrants to the Americas.

He noted that studies of Iranian lithographs, especially ones carried out on the Teymareh rock art site in Khomein county, central Iran, show that thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of the Iranian plateau migrated to the Americas.

"These migrations took place from the Bering Strait, in an area between the northeast of Asia and the northwest of the Americas, or from the frozen oceans before the tenth millennium BC. One of the paintings, found among mountain petroglyphs in Khomein, depicts a hunter man on horseback, which alike the American Indians, carries blades made of birds' feathers on his back."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasserifard explained "This type of cover and hunting can be seen among Indians living in different parts of the Americas through documents and photographs taken, ... , these numerous prehistorical figures can show the migration of the inhabitants of the Iranian plateau to the American continent during the past millennia."

Earlier in March, a team of entomologists and archaeologists concluded that a previously-founded petroglyph showcases a six-limbed creature with the head and arms of a praying mantis. The rare 14-centimeter rock carving was first spotted in the Teymareh rock art site in Khomein county, central Iran, during surveys between 2017 and 2018, but could not be identified due to its unusual shape.

Jan Brouwer and Gus van Veen have examined the Teymareh site estimating its carvings were made 40,000-4,000 years ago.

One can only guess why prehistoric people felt the need to carve a mantis-man into rock, but the petroglyph suggests humans have linked mantis to the supernatural since ancient times. As stated by the authors, the carving bears witness, "that in prehistory, almost as today, praying mantis were animals of mysticism and appreciation."

Prehistoric rock art provides insights into past eras and cultures as archaeologists classify the tools for the carvings by specific eras Incising tools include flint, metal, or thigh bones of hunted prey.