Comparative Study of the Gravestones of Qaleh Shadab of Dezful and Shahsavar of Izeh from the Perspective of Cultural Ecology

Introduction: Within the province of Khuzestan, situated amidst the Zagros Mountains, in two distinct regions approximately 250 kilometers apart, two cemeteries of the Bakhtiari people, despite sharing a common cultural foundation, exhibit significant differences in the structural form of the graves and their symbolic visual elements. These cemeteries, located in Izeh and Dezful, are known as «Shahsavar» and «Qaleh Shadab», respectively, and their similarities are primarily influenced by their proximity to each other. This research aims to understand the cultural foundations of these two cemeteries, as well as the nature and manner of their similarities and differences. The current research question is to explore the nature and reasons for these differences and similarities, and how they manifest from the perspective of cultural anthropology, drawing on Stewart's cultural ecology theory.Research Method: This study, which falls under the ethnographic branches of qualitative research, is described and analyzed using a comparative method, leveraging semiotic knowledge and relying on visual evidence. The data for this study are derived from both field and library sources.Findings: The cemetery of Shahsavar reflects the commemoration of significant figures and benevolents, warriors, and heroes with memorial environmental elements in the form of gravestones; whereas in the cemetery of Qaleh Shadab, these elements are somewhat ritualistic and related to mourning itself or the representation of the virtues of the deceased's life period in the form of more coherent visual narrative elements.Conclusion: Based on what was derived from Steward's theory, the impact of the three concepts of Steward's bioregionalism theory—namely, adaptation, bidirectional causality, and the mutable cores of culture—was observed in the mourning rituals of these two locations. The environmental cultural elements manifested more prominently and distinctly in the symbolic aspects of both regions, which in turn led to a clear differentiation of the visual and symbolic aspects of these two areas. This reproduction of meanings occurs where, in the Shahsavar cemetery, the grand narrative of bravery, combined with the commemoration of the greats, is highlighted by the stony lion monument, while in the Qaleh Shadab cemeteries, life and its elements appear more pronounced.