Meymand, also written Maymand, lies in a semi-arid valley in Kerman Province where winter homes are cut horizontally into soft rock. The cave rooms make an immediate visual impression, but UNESCO did not recognise the village simply for unusual architecture. The Cultural Landscape of Maymand preserves a three-part agro-pastoral system in which families traditionally moved between different seasonal settlements while their animals travelled to mountain pasture.
In winter, residents occupied the rock-cut kicheh dwellings lower in the valley. Spring brought movement to temporary houses near fields and orchards; summer involved higher grazing areas. This was movement by people between dwelling types rather than the more familiar image of herds alone migrating across long distances. Farming, water management, livestock, paths and seasonal buildings therefore belong to the heritage just as much as the carved rooms.