IRAN-ARCHAEOLOGY-HISTORY

An ancient engraving of a hunter is seen in the hills outside the town of Khomein in central Iran on October 24, 2016. An Iranian archaeologist has spent years in an almost single-handed quest across the country's hills and desert plains to uncover ancient rock art that could be among the oldest in the world. Now he hopes that renewed ties with the West after years of international isolation could help decipher its mysteries. The Khomein hills are typical of rock art locations around the world -- a once-fertile riverside spot that supported sizeable settlements. As in other places around the world, the artists were fixated by a single image: in Iran, pictures of the ibex deer account for more than 90 percent of the ancient engravings (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)