Recognizing the history of culture governing the currentchr('39')s traditional societies is one of the important and significant issues which has been studied by domestic and foreign investigators. Archaeologists are among the researchers, accompanied by other interdisciplinary investigators, who can reconstruct the culture of our ancestors through the findings obtained from exploration, and match them with various aspects of nomads and tribes. In the present investigation, it has been tried to study the customs of Bakhtiari people. The main aim is to study the micro-cultures which have been expressed in the life of Bakhtiari people in the form of some customs of ancient Ilam. The assumptions of this investigation are based on the following questions: which customs of ancient Ilam have been inherited by Bakhtiari people? Which aspect of their life have been influenced by this expression? The method is descriptive-analytical along with field survey via a historical approach. In this investigation, 23 archaeological works from ancient Ilam civilization have been studied. The results of the research indicate that the customs of people who are now known as Bakhtiari are somewhat the lineage of the people who lived as a strong government of ancient Ilam in the region. Although the cultural and population complex of Bakhtiari has significantly changed during thousands of years, there is still an evidence implying that they are the heirs of old culture of ancient Ilam.
Theoretical literature Investigations about the cultures governing the life of the present tribes of Iran and their adaptations with the historical eras of Iran requires a new method the basis of which can be on archaeological evidence. This is very difficult about the common culture between Bakhtiari people and the ancient Ilam civilization due to the lack of study resources, abandoned excavations of ancient sites of Ilam civilization, and the destruction of historical documents due to civil wars and foreign invasions. Investigations in the field of Bakhtiari studies face such problems as the destruction, falsification, and distortion of traditions. Overlapping the culture of the Bakhtiari people with the culture and civilization of ancient Ilam whose residual works are scattered over a wide geographical area is not an easy task. Despite these limitations, in the present study, this case has been specifically studied, so that, by examining the examples of archaeological artifacts and evidence left from the Ilam civilization and their application between two different time periods, it has taken a new perspective.
Objectives and research questions The present study is an attempt to overlap the customs and traditions of the Bakhtiari people and the government of ancient Ilam based on the investigation of archaeological works and evidence left from Ilam civilization. The question is that in what aspect of the life of the Bakhtiari people, the Ilam government is evident.
Hypotheses The greatest cultural influence of the ancient Ilam government has been manifested in two aspects of the life of the Bakhtiari people: one is the customs related to religious affairs, and the other is the customs related to daily life.
Data collection In the present investigation, 23 samples of archeological works and evidences related to Ilam civilization have been selected and analyzed. Most of the studied works are embossed with four works and then marked by calligraphy and stelae with 3 numbers, all of which are located in the geographical area of Khuzestan province and the highest number in the cultural area of Shoush (15 works) and Izeh with 4 works. Given the fact that the largest population of Bakhtiari people live in Khuzestan and Chaharmahal Bakhtiari provinces, this research has been mostly focused on different parts of these two provinces.
Analysis and discussion The data of the present investigation (23 works survived from the civilization of ancient Ilam) are embossed on stone, embossed on bitumen, inscribed, clay
inscription, brick inscription, engraved on earthenware, inscriptions on marble horns, inscriptions on bronze plates, inscriptions on bronze statues, inscriptions on the stele, seal theme and the seal effect which has a cultural correspondence between ancient Ilam and the Bakhtiari people in the form of customs, including two categories: a) religious rituals including votive, similarity in using Dua and Curse of the element of fire, similarity in the performance of sacrifices and vows, similarity in using prayers and curses, the existence of Bakhtiari local musicians in the works discovered from ancient civilization of Ilam, similarity in the object of marriage or marriage of a woman with a deceased brother, registration of children, and b) customs related to daily life (2 works) such as the inheritance and similarity in spinning influenced by the customs of ancient Ilam civilization. Therefore, according to what has been analyzed in this study, the most similarity is related to religious affairs that have been manifested in the lives of Bakhtiari people from the ancient Ilam civilization, and among the total archaeological evidence left from ancient Ilam, the highest number is related to the inscriptions, which is in accordance with the customs of the Bakhtiari people, since the population of the Bakhtiari people is concentrated in two provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari and Khuzestan, and the highest density of nomads is spending summer and winter between these two provinces. These customs and traditions transferred from Ilam civilization to Bakhtiari people are more evident among the nomadic tribes of Chaharmahal Bakhtiari and Khuzestan provinces and much more in areas such as Shush, Izeh, Lali and Koohrang than the other areas. One of the reasons for this manifestation is not to enter the urban life and adhere to its ancient tradition, the location of these areas in the geography of ancient Ilam, as well as the hard and mysterious way of life in the highlands and mountains. It should be noted that most elements studied in this research can also be seen in the popular culture and literature of the Bakhtiari people.
