The Houmian region, located in the northeast of Kuhdasht, a district in Lorestan Province, is one of the most significant historical sites in the Zagros Mountains and on the Iranian Plateau. A considerable number of pictographs have been discovered in this area. More precisely, several hundred colored images have been painted over a stretch of more than 6 kilometers along the slopes of Mount Sarsarkhan during different time periods. To date, over 22 sites featuring colored rock art have been reported in this region, each containing between 2 and more than 67 individual motifs.
Houmian can be considered the largest rock art museum (with colored images) in Iran. The motifs found here are of great importance, as some depict narrative scenes with social themes, and certain animals portrayed such as the famous deer in the Chelga Shalae site appear to be long extinct. It is likely that the tradition of colored painting in this intermountain valley dates back to the Late Paleolithic and has continued into more recent times. When studied from artistic and thematic perspectives, these motifs constitute a valuable resource for understanding the past.
In this paper, the authors introduce one of the most important sites in the Houmian region, today known as Chowarta West. This site was first reported in 2001 by Mr. Omran Garazhian and his colleagues, and later reexamined in 2003 by Marcel Otte and his team. Unfortunately, the aforementioned articles only identified the site, and no comprehensive study was conducted on the Chowarta motifs. Some recently drawn charcoal images were even mistakenly categorized as historical pictographs.
In Chowarta Western, more than 24 pictographs in red, red-brown, red-orange, and yellow have been drawn on a large rock surface on the slopes of Mount Sarsarkhan or Kizeh, near the mountain's summit. All of these images have been created with simple lines, likely drawn using fingers, and possess a unique delicacy and beauty compared to other Houmian motifs. In the past, more figures existed on this rock surface (the "canvas"), but unfortunately, many have been lost due to rain deposits.
Among the various pigments used in this site, red-brown appears most frequently. The images in this color are particularly beautiful and seem to have been painted over multiple time periods. Yellow-colored motifs are very abstract and rudimentary, lacking distinct aesthetic appeal. The style of these images is generally impressionistic; figures are depicted using varied lines, and some limbs are rendered with just one or two strokes, likely made with fingertips. Most of the animal figures in Chowarta West are shown in profile. Only one ram? (Figures 10 and 11) and one deer are depicted in a three-quarter view to show more detail in their antlers (Figures 10 and 12). The only human figure in this site is shown frontally, with arms in a side view position (Figures 10 and 12). According to McBurney’s description, this depiction aligns with other Houmian motifs discovered up to 1969. It is likely that all the images were drawn individually, except for the figure of an archer, who appears to be aiming a second arrow at a game animal already struck by a first arrow.
In general, the Chowarta West motifs include depictions of goats, a ram?, a deer, an arched animal with an unclear back, and a human figure with a bow in a hunting scene. The motifs were probably drawn individually and in various periods, except for the hunter figure, which is linked to two or three other images (Figures 10 and 6). There are also some faded red motifs, likely due to low-quality pigment, which appear to be partial images of quadrupeds and remnants of coloring possibly painted in the final stage.
The historical dating of the motifs remains unknown. Environmental studies do not provide much help in dating them, since human habitation has continued near the Chowarta and Houmian paintings from the Middle Paleolithic to modern times. Based on Dr. Goff’s research, it is known that the Houmian Plain served as a migratory route for nomadic groups from the Neolithic period to the present. The only potential clue is the difference in surface patina of the rock, suggesting that the Chowarta motifs were painted at different times. Therefore, without absolute dating methods such as uranium-series deposition analysis conducted on each motif, no definitive conclusion can be made about their age.
However, the authors believe that, considering the absence of equestrian or military motifs such as swords common in other Houmian sites and the relatively small number of motifs in Chowarta West, as well as the lack of any distinct features pointing to a specific historical era, it is likely that the Chowarta motifs are among the oldest in the Houmian valley.