This research aims to document and analyze the cultural, religious, and artistic content of the historical tombstones located in the Tareh cemetery in Natanz. Covering an area of approximately one hectare, this cemetery contains over a thousand inscribed and carved stones dating from the Safavid period to the present. The tombstones are predominantly unshaped, upright slabs with minimal carving, reflecting local traditions and limited access to stone-carving tools. This study addresses the following questions: What developmental trajectory has this cemetery followed from the 16th to the 20th centuries? and what characteristics and symbolic meanings do the carvings on these stones embody? To trace the cemetery’s historical development, the site was divided into eighteen sections, and 976 historical tombstones – from the Safavid to the Pahlavi periods – were systematically documented through photographic recording. The oldest tombstone dates to the 930s AH, and the cemetery expanded spatially from the southwest toward the east and southeast, indicating a structured organization of burial space in recent centuries. Approximately one-fifth of the stones bear simple motifs – including cypress trees, birds, goats, combs, mirrors, and abstract designs – whose execution techniques closely resemble pre-Islamic rock carvings. These engravings exemplify rural folk art, markedly distinct from the ornamental styles observed on tombstones in the urban cemetery of Kashan. The most recurrent motif is the cypress tree, a symbol of eternity in Iranian culture. Indeed, this cemetery functions as an unwritten historical manuscript comprising over a thousand pages, offering invaluable insights into the local history of a mountainous settlement across five centuries.