Mey­mand is an iso­lat­ed semi-desert region deep in a val­ley in the south­ern spurs of the cen­tral moun­tain range of Iran. The pop­u­la­tion of Mey­mand leads a semi-nomadic life and is engaged in agri­cul­ture and cat­tle breed­ing, mov­ing from spring to autumn to tem­po­rary dwellings on moun­tain pas­tures. For the win­ter, they descend into the val­ley and live in cave hous­es carved into soft rock (tuffs), a rather unusu­al type of dwelling in dry desert con­di­tions. The cul­tur­al land­scape of Mey­mand tes­ti­fies to the exis­tence of a spe­cif­ic sys­tem, ear­li­er, appar­ent­ly, more wide­spread, char­ac­ter­ized by nomadic move­ments, main­ly of peo­ple, and not of ani­mals.