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Petroglyph

{{Short description|Images carved on a rock surface as a form of rock art}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Redirect|Rock carving|other uses|Rock art}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}

{{Original research|date=June 2019}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}

File:Golpayegan.petroglyphs0101.jpg, Teimareh region]]

File:Libya 5321 Meercatze (Gatti Mammoni) Petroglyphs Wadi Methkandoush Luca Galuzzi 2007.jpg), rampant lionesses in Wadi Mathendous, Mesak Settafet region of Libya.]]

File:Laxe dos carballos 01.JPG, Galicia, Spain (4th–2nd millennium BCE), depicting cup and ring marks and deer hunting scenes]]

File:Negev camel petroglyph.jpg

File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 08.jpg, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa)]]

A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs, estimated to be 20,000 years old are classified as protected monuments and have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek prefix {{transliteration|grc|petro-}}, from {{lang|grc|πέτρα}} {{transliteration|grc|petra}} meaning "stone", and {{lang|grc|γλύφω}} {{transliteration|grc|glýphō}} meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as {{lang|fr|pétroglyphe}}.

In scholarly texts, a petroglyph is a rock engraving, whereas a petrograph (or pictograph) is a rock painting.{{cite book |last1=Wieschhoff |first1=Heinrich Albert |title=Africa |date=1945 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |quote=Most noteworthy among the relics of Africa's early periods are the rock-paintings (petrographs) and rock-engravings (petroglyphs) which have been discovered in many parts of the continent.}}{{cite book | author = T. Douglas Price | title = Europe Before Rome: A Site-by-Site Tour of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages | date = 2012 | publisher = Oxford University Press | quote = This art falls into two categories, depending on how it is made: petroglyphs are carved into rock, and pictographs are painted on the rock.| page = 116}} In common usage, the words are sometimes used interchangeably.{{cite web |title=petrograph |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petrograph |website=Merriam-Webster |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=November 26, 2020}}{{cite book |title=Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language |date=2001 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-681-31723-X |page=1449}} Both types of image belong to the wider and more general category of rock art or parietal art. Petroforms, or patterns and shapes made by many large rocks and boulders over the ground, are also quite different. Inuksuk are not petroglyphs, but human-made rock forms found in Arctic regions.

History

File:Haljesta.jpg (Häljesta, Västmanland in Sweden). Nordic Bronze Age. The glyphs have been painted to make them more visible.]]

File:MtnSheepPetroglyph.jpg near Moab, Utah, United States; a common theme in glyphs from the desert Southwest and Great Basin]]

Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica, with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia and Siberia, many examples of petroglyphs found globally are dated to approximately the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary (roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago).

Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, following the introduction of a number of precursors of writing systems, the existence and creation of petroglyphs began to suffer and tail off, with different forms of art, such as pictographs and ideograms, taking their place. However, petroglyphs continued to be created and remained somewhat common, with various cultures continuing to use them for differing lengths of time, including cultures who continued to create them until contact with Western culture was made in the 19th and 20th centuries.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Interpretation

Many hypotheses exist as to the purpose of petroglyphs, depending on their location, age, and subject matter. Some petroglyph images most likely held a deep cultural and religious significance for the societies that created them. Many petroglyphs are thought to represent a type of symbolic or ritualistic language or communication style that remains not fully understood. Others, such as geocontourglyphs, more clearly depict or represent a landform or the surrounding terrain, such as rivers and other geographic features.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Some petroglyph maps, depicting trails, as well as containing symbols communicating the time and distances travelled along those trails, exist; other petroglyph maps act as astronomical markers. As well as holding geographic and astronomical importance, other petroglyphs may also have been a by-product of various rituals: sites in India, for example, have seen some petroglyphs identified as musical instruments or "rock gongs".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3520384.stm Ancient Indians made 'rock music']. BBC News (2004-03-19). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.

Some petroglyphs likely formed types of symbolic communication, such as types of proto-writing.{{Cite journal|last=Houston|first=Stephen D.|date=2004-10-01|title=The Archaeology of Communication Technologies|url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=33|issue=1|pages=223–250|doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724|issn=0084-6570}} Later glyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary between tribes, in addition to holding possible religious meanings. Petroglyph styles have been recognised as having local or regional "dialects" from similar or neighboring peoples. Siberian inscriptions loosely resemble an early form of runes, although no direct relationship has been established.

Petroglyphs from different continents show similarities. While people would be inspired by their direct surroundings, it is harder to explain the common styles. This could be mere coincidence, an indication that certain groups of people migrated widely from some initial common area, or indication of a common origin. In 1853, George Tate presented a paper to the Berwick Naturalists' Club, at which a John Collingwood Bruce agreed that the carvings had "... a common origin, and indicate a symbolic meaning, representing some popular thought."J. Collingwood Bruce (1868; cited in Beckensall, S., Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained. Pendulum Publications, Rothbury, Northumberland. 1983:19) In his cataloguing of Scottish rock art, Ronald Morris summarized 104 different theories on their interpretation.Morris, Ronald (1979) The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and The Isle of Man, Blandford Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7137-0974-2}}.

Other theories suggest that petroglyphs were carved by spiritual leaders, such as shamans, in an altered state of consciousness,[See: D. Lewis-Williams, A Cosmos in Stone: Interpreting Religion and Society through Rock Art (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2002).] perhaps induced by the use of natural hallucinogens. Many of the geometric patterns (known as form constants) which recur in petroglyphs and cave paintings have been shown by David Lewis-Williams to be hardwired into the human brain. They frequently occur in visual disturbances and hallucinations brought on by drugs, migraine, and other stimuli.

The Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) of the University of the Witwatersrand studies present-day links between religion and rock art among the San people of the Kalahari Desert.[http://rockart.wits.ac.za/ Rockart.wits.ac.za] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730134938/http://rockart.wits.ac.za/ |date=2017-07-30 }} Retrieved on 2013-02-12. Though the San people's artworks are predominantly paintings, the beliefs behind them can perhaps be used as a basis for understanding other types of rock art, including petroglyphs. To quote from the RARI website:

Using knowledge of San beliefs, researchers have shown that the art played a fundamental part in the religious lives of its painters. The art captured things from the San's world behind the rock-face: the other world inhabited by spirit creatures, to which dancers could travel in animal form, and where people of ecstasy could draw power and bring it back for healing, rain-making and capturing the game.{{cite web|title=Rock Art Research Institute (RARI)|url=https://www.wits.ac.za/rockart/|website=University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.|access-date=9 September 2017}}

List of petroglyph sites

= Africa =

File:Site archéologique de Bidzar4.jpg

== Algeria ==

== Cameroon ==

== Central African Republic ==

  • Bambari, Lengo and Bangassou in the south; Bwale in the west
  • Toulou
  • Djebel Mela
  • Koumbala

== Chad ==

== Republic of the Congo ==

== Egypt ==

  • Qurta, on the east bank of the Nile River in the upper Nile valley, has Nubian Sandstone formations featuring the first and earliest known examples of petroglyphs in the region of North Africa, dating back to 19–15,000 years BP{{cite journal|last1=Huyge|first1=Dirk|last2=Vandenberghe|first2=Dimitri A.G.|last3=De Dapper|first3=Morgan|last4=Mees|first4=Florias|last5=Claes|first5=Wouter|last6=Darnell|first6=John C.|date=21 November 2011|title=First evidence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa: securing the age of the Qurta petroglyphs (Egypt) through OSL dating|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/first-evidence-of-pleistocene-rock-art-in-north-africa-securing-the-age-of-the-qurta-petroglyphs-egypt-through-osl-dating/FBE838867A15C3CE76CAF883568AC251|journal=Antiquity|volume=85|issue=330|pages=1184–1193|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00061998|s2cid=130471822 |access-date=30 May 2023}}{{cite journal|date=28 May 2012|title=Egypt: The Aurochs of Qurta|url=https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/egypt-the-aurochs-of-qurta/|journal=World Archaeology|issue=53|access-date=30 May 2023}}
  • Wadi Hammamat in Qift, many carvings and inscriptions dating from before the earliest Egyptian Dynasties to the modern era, including the only painted petroglyph known from the Eastern Desert and drawings of Egyptian reed boats dated to 4000 BCE
  • Inscription Rock in South Sinai, is a large rock with carvings and writings ranging from Nabatean to Latin, Ancient Greek and Crusader eras located a few miles from the Ain Hudra Oasis. A second rock sites approximately 1 km from the main rock near the Nabatean tombs of Nawamis with carvings of animals including Camels, Gazelles and others. The original archaeologists who investigated these in the 1800s have also left their names carved on this rock.
  • Giraffe petroglyphs found in the region of Gebel el-Silsila. The rock faces have been used for extensive quarrying of materials for temple building especially during the period specified as the New Kingdom. The Giraffe depictions are located near a stela of the king Amenhotep IV. The images are not dated, but they are probably dated from the Predynastic periods.

== Ethiopia ==

== Gabon ==

  • Ogooue River Valley
  • Epona
  • Elarmekora
  • Kongo Boumba
  • Lindili
  • Kaya Kaya

== Libya ==

== Morocco ==

  • The Draa River valley.
  • Taouz.Gonzalo de Salazar,"The Chariots of Sahara", Adoranten, Tanum: Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art, 2000.
  • Akka
  • Smara

File:Lion Plate at Twyfelfontein, Namibia (2014).jpg (2014)]]

== Namibia ==

== Niger ==

== South Africa ==

Tunisia{{Cite journal |last=Ben Nasr|first=Jaafar |date=June 2015 |title=The Rock Art of Tunisia When, Why and to whom? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340926432 |journal=Expression |issue=8}}

  • Ouesslat Mountain, Ain Kanfous{{Cite journal |last=Yahia-Acheche |first=Sophie |date=2013-06-02 |title=Ousselat (Jebel — ; Tunisie) : Préhistoire et art rupestre |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2870 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=36 |pages=5986–5993 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2870 |issn=1015-7344|doi-access=free }} and Zamla{{Cite journal |last=Jaafar Ben Nasr |date=November 2021 |title=Les peintures rupestres de l'abri de Zamla (Jebel Ousselat – Tunisie centrale) : la représentation d'une planimétrie agraire ? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356493858 |journal=Antiquités Africaines |volume=57 |pages=19–32}}
  • Tameghza{{Cite journal |last=Roux |first=Henri |date=1911 |title=Peinture Rupestre du Djebel-Bliji (Sud -Tunisien) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/bmsap_0037-8984_1911_num_2_1_8311 |journal=Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=31–32 |doi=10.3406/bmsap.1911.8311}}
  • The Tataouine Region, in particular Ghomrassen{{Cite journal |last=Mohamed Elhedi Ghrabi |date=2009 |title=Les peintures rupestres de Ghomrassen |url=https://www.ccsp.it/web/INFOCCSP/VCS%20storico/vcs2009pdf/Ghrabi.pdf |journal=Valcamonica Symposium |volume=XXIII}} and Smar{{Cite journal |last1=Ben Nasr |first1=Jaâfar |last2=Houla |first2=Yassine |date=2020-10-01 |title=Les gravures rupestres d'Aïn Charchara (Smar-Tataouine; Sud-Est tunisien) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003552120300388 |journal=L'Anthropologie |series=Art préhistorique |language=fr |volume=124 |issue=3 |pages=102762 |doi=10.1016/j.anthro.2020.102762 |s2cid=225122514 |issn=0003-5521}}

== Zambia ==

= Asia =

File:Cheung Chau Rock Carving 1.jpg|Rock carving on Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong

File:KyrgyzPetroglyphs.jpg|Petroglyphs at Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan

File:Tanbaly.jpg|Tamgaly petroglyphs in Kazakhstan

File:Buddhas at ili.jpg|Buddhist carvings at Ili River in Kazakhstan

File:Angono Petroglyphs1.jpg|Petroglyphs on a rock wall found in the Sierra Madre mountain range, Rizal, Philippines

File:Petoro.JPG|Petroglyph found in Awashima shrine (Japan)

== Armenia ==

File:Petrogliph-Ughtasar-Armenia2.jpg

  • Ughtasar
  • Paytasar
  • Urtsadzor
  • Aragats{{cite journal|last=Khechoyan |first=Anna |url=https://www.academia.edu/2111647 |title=The Rock Art of the Mt. Aragats System | Anna Khechoyan |journal=Xxii International Valcamonica Symposium Rock Art in the Frame of the Cultural Heritage of Humankind l'Arte Rupestre Nel Quadro del Patrimonio Culturale dell'umanità,Centro Congressi - Darfo Boario Terme (Bs) Italy 18th - 24th May |date=January 2007 |publisher=Academia.edu |access-date=2013-08-18}}
  • Gegham mountains
  • Vardenis ridge
  • See also Armenian Eternity sign

== Azerbaijan ==

== China ==

{{See also|Cliff inscriptions}}

  • Helan Mountains in Yinchuan{{cite encyclopedia|last=O'Sullivan|first=Rebecca|title=East Asia: Rock Art |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |edition=2|year=2018|publisher=Springer|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_3131-1|pages=1–11|isbn=978-3-319-51726-1}}
  • Hua'an Engravings
  • Kangjia shimenzi in Xinjiang
  • Lianyungan Rock Engravings
  • Petroglyphs in Zhuhai
  • Yin Mountains in Inner Mongolia
  • Chifeng Petroglyphs in Inner Mongolia

== Georgia ==

== Hong Kong ==

Eight sites in Hong Kong:

== India ==

File:Petroglyphs, Ladakh, NW India.JPG

Kethaiyurumpu, Tamil Nadu. Situated 28 km north west of Dindigal, Tamil Nadu nearby Idaiyakottai and six km south west of Oddanchartam has revealed several petroglyphs mostly represent abstract symbols on two rocks, which looks like a temporary rock shelter were noticed adjacent to a Murugan temple which is in ruins on top of the Kothaiyurumbu hill.

== Iran ==

{{Further|Rock art in Iran}}

File:Iran-map 7.jpg

During recent years a large number of rock carvings has been identified in different parts of Iran. The vast majority depict the ibex.{{cite web|url=http://iranrockart.com/pages/?1054|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719063539/http://iranrockart.com/pages/?1054|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2014-07-19|title=Iran Petroglyphs – سنگ نگاره های ایران Iran Petroglyphs|work=iranrockart.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/middle_east/iran_rock_art/index.php|title=Middle East Rock Art Archive – Iran Rock Art Gallery |work= Bradshaw Foundation }} Rock drawings were found in December 2016 near Golpayegan, Iran, which may be the oldest drawings discovered, with one cluster possibly 40,000 years old. Accurate estimations were unavailable due to US sanctions.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/world-oldest-rock-drawings-archaeologist-iran-khomeyn-mohammed-naserifard-a7470321.html|title=Archaeologist uncovers 'the world's oldest drawings'|date=12 December 2016|work=independent.co.uk}}

The oldest pictographs in Iran are seen in Yafteh cave in Lorestan that date back 40,000 and the oldest petroglyph discovered belongs to Timareh dating back to 40,800 years ago.

Iran provides demonstrations of script formation from pictogram, ideogram, linear (2300 BC) or proto Elamite, geometric old Elamite script, Pahlevi script, Arabic script (906 years ago), Kufi script, and Farsi script back to at least 250 years ago. More than 50000 petroglyphs have been discovered, extended over all Iran's states.{{cite web |title=Iran Petroglyphs |website=iranrockart.com |url=http://iranrockart.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410060817/http://iranrockart.com/|archive-date=2011-04-10 }}Universal Common language (book); Iran Petrogylphs, Ideogram Symbols (book); Rock Museums Rock Arts (Iran Petroglyphs) (book);

For more information : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/world-oldest-rock-drawings-archaeologist-iran-khomeyn-mohammed-naserifard-a7470321.html ; http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/deciphering-irans-ancient-rock-art-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=107184&NewsCatID=375 ; http://theiranproject.com/blog/tag/dr-mohammed-naserifard/

== Israel ==

== Japan ==

== Jordan ==

== Kazakhstan ==

File:Koksu Petroglyphs.JPG

== Laos ==

== South Korea ==

== Kyrgyzstan ==

== Macau ==

== Malaysia ==

== Mongolia ==

  • Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai, UNESCO World Heritage site, 2011[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1382 Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai – UNESCO World Heritage Centre]. Whc.unesco.org (2011-06-28). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.Fitzhugh, William W. and Kortum, Richard (2012) [http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/pdf/Rock%20Art%20and%20Archaeology%20Field%20Report%202011%20FINAL_webv4.pdf Rock Art and Archaeology: Investigating Ritual Landscape in the Mongolian Altai. Field Report 2011]. The Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • Petroglyphs found in the area of Bayan-Ovoo.Prehistoric petroglyphs found in the area of Bayan-Ovoo (approximately 42,2379 N, 105,5360 E), as described and published by De Salazar Serantes in 1998 (“Discovery of Prehistoric Ruins in Gobi Desert”, by Gonzalo de Salazar Serantes, Adoranten1998. Tanum: Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art, 1998, pp 66-69).

== Pakistan ==

== Philippines ==

== Saudi Arabia ==

File:وادي قرن.jpg|Petroglyphs at Wadi Qarn.

File:Madain Saleh (6720062703).jpg|Petroglyphs at Mada'in Salih.

File:Inscriptions of musical instruments in Hejaz.jpg|Petroglyphs of musical instruments.

File:جبال حرة.jpg|Petroglyphs of animals, Tabuk.

File:جيال الزيدانية النقش الهيروغليفي.jpg|Hieroglyphic inscriptions, Tabuk.

File:نقوش جبل كويفر الاسلامية.jpg|Islamic inscriptions, Qasim.

File:جبل دويدة.jpg|Thamudic inscriptions.

{{div col}}

{{div col end}}

== Taiwan ==

== Thailand ==

== Vietnam ==

== Yemen ==

= Europe =

File:Sweden-Brastad-Petroglyph Skomakaren-Aug 2003.jpg|Carving "The Shoemaker", Brastad, Sweden

File:Petroglifo bentayga.jpg|Petroglyph in Roque Bentayga, Gran Canaria (Canary Islands).

File:DalgarvenMillCup&Ring.jpg|Petroglyph at Dalgarven Mill, Ayrshire, Scotland.

File:Petroglifos do Castrinho de Conxo.jpg|Bronze Age petroglyphs depicting weapons, Castriño de Conxo, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia.

File:Labirinto do Outeiro do Cribo.JPG|Labyrinth, Meis, Galicia.

File:Laxe das Rodas 01.jpg|Cup-and-ring mark, Louro, Muros, Galicia.

File:Touron petr.JPG|Deer and cup-and-ring motifs, Tourón, Ponte Caldelas, Galicia.

File:Petroglyphs in Zalavruga, Belomorsk, Karelia, Russia 03.jpg|Petroglyphs in Zalavruga, Belomorsk, Karelia, Russia

== England ==

== Finland ==

  • Hauensuoli, Hanko, Finland

== France ==

File:Vallée des Merveilles 103.jpg|The sorcerer, Vallée des Merveilles, France

File:Vallée des Merveilles 101.jpg|The tribe master, Vallée des Merveilles, France

== Ireland ==

== Italy ==

File:Parco Grosio La Rupe Magna.jpg|Grosio - Rupe Magna

File:Parco Grosio Rupe Magna 5.jpg|Grosio - Rupe Magna

File:Parco Grosio Rupe Magna 3.jpg|Grosio - Rupe Magna

== [[Northern Ireland]] ==

File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland left.jpg|Leftmost of three central stones, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone

File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland centre.jpg|Central of three central stones, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone

File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland right.JPG|A stone on the right of the passage, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone

File:Sess kilgreen 1.jpg|Sess Kilgreen Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone

File:Sess kilgreen 2.jpg|Sess Kilgreen Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone

== Norway ==

{{See also|List of rock carvings in Norway}}

== Portugal ==

File:Rock Art Foz Coa 01.jpg|Various zoomorphic creatures, including in particular, a horse

File:Rock Art Foz Coa 03.jpg|Paleolithic rock engravings breaking the natural rock formation

File:Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley - Penascosa - Bull @ 2011-08-06.jpg|Various zoomorphic creatures, including in particular, a Bull

== Scotland ==

== Spain ==

File:Ciervo cuernos.jpg, this detail depicts a deer hit by several spears]]

[http://celticland.com/?page_id=7 Photos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301022539/http://celticland.com/?page_id=7 |date=2011-03-01 }}. Celticland.com. (2007-08-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.

== Russia ==

File:Петроглиф Бес, Бесов нос.jpg–Lake Onega, Russia]]

File:Петроглифы Сикачи-Аляна 2.JPG on the basalt stone in Sikachi-Alyan, Russia]]

File:Belomorsk petroglyphs00.jpg, Russia]]

== Sweden ==

{{div col}}

{{div col end}}

== Turkey ==

== Ukraine ==

== Wales ==

= Central and South America and the Caribbean =

== Argentina ==

File:Talampaya petroglyphs (1).jpg|Talampaya National Park, La Rioja Province, Argentina

File:Petroglifo001.jpg|Petroglyph on Tunduqueral hill at Uspallata, Argentina

== Aruba ==

== Brazil ==

The oldest reliably dated rock art in the Americas is known as the "Horny Little Man." It is petroglyph depicting a stick figure with an oversized phallus and carved in Lapa do Santo, a cave in central-eastern Brazil and dates from 12,000 to 9,000 years ago.Choi, Charles. [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna46488427 "Call this ancient rock carving 'little horny man'."] Science on NBC News. 22 Feb 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.

File:Serra da Capivara - Painting 7.JPG|Capivara National Park, Piauí, Brazil

File:Ivolandia Rupestres 11.JPG|Ivolandia, Goiás, Brazil

File:Figuras rupestres, Costão do Santinho, Florianópolis 2.JPG|Costao do Santinho, SC, Brazil

== Chile ==

File:Settlers at La Silla.jpg|Numerous rocks boasting thousand-year-old carvings.{{cite web|title=Settlers at La Silla|url=http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1723a/|website=www.eso.org|access-date=6 June 2017}}

File:Llamas at La Silla.jpg|Llamas at La Silla{{cite news|title=Llamas at La Silla|url=http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1417a/|access-date=29 April 2014|newspaper=ESO Picture of the Week}}

File:Motu Nui.jpg|Petroglyphs at Orongo, Rapa Nui (Easter Island). A Makemake and two birdmen higher up

== Colombia ==

File:Alb.jpg|El Abra archaeological site, Cundinamarca

File:Chiribiquete petroglyph 1.jpg|Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete Natural National Park. (Possible equine)

File:Chiribiquete petroglyph 2.jpg|Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete Natural National Park. Aboriginal.

File:Chiribiquete AJ11calabazos.JPG|Petroglyphs in the Chiribiquete Natural National Park.

== Costa Rica ==

== Dominican Republic ==

== Grenada ==

== Montserrat ==

== Nicaragua ==

== Paraguay ==

File:Fertility symbols found in natural shelter in Amambay, Paraguay.jpeg, Paraguay]]

== Peru ==

== Saint Kitts and Nevis ==

== Suriname ==

== Trinidad and Tobago ==

== Venezuela ==

= North America =

== Canada ==

== Mexico ==

File:ParrasPetroglyphs.jpg, Coahuila]]

==United States==

{{main list|List of petroglyphs in the United States}}

File:Petroglyph on the western coast of Hawaii.jpg]]

File:Hawaii petroglyph men.jpg]]

File:Petroglyph Point at Mesa Verde National Park by RO.JPG's Petroglyph Point as depictions of the Eagle, Mountain Sheep, Parrot, Horned Toad, and Mountain Lion clans, and the Ancestral Puebloans who inhabited the mesa]]

| last = Keyser

| first = James D.

| title = Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau

| publisher = University of Washington Press

| date = July 1992

| isbn = 978-0-295-97160-5 }}

File:Petroglyphs on a Bishop Tuff tableland-750px.jpg|Petroglyphs on a Bishop Tuff tableland, eastern California

File:Petroglyph 2 tds.jpg|Southern Utah

File:Petroglyphs tds.jpg|Southern Utah

File:Petroglyphs in Bryce Canyon.jpg|Utah

File:Ute Petroglyphs in Arches National Park.jpg|Arches National Park

File:Tracks at Barnesville Petroglyph.JPG|Animal print carvings outside of Barnesville, Ohio

File:Petroglyph in Arizona 2007-01-20.jpg|Arizona

File:Picacho Petroglyph.jpg|Picacho Mountain Petroglyphs

File:Petroglyphs in the Columbia River Gorge.jpg|Columbia River Gorge, Washington

File:Upside down.jpg|Upside-down man in Western Colorado

File:RochesterPanel 01 2008.JPG|Rochester Rock Art Panel in the San Rafael Swell in Utah

File:Spiderweb petroglyph on the Waterfall Trail in the White Tank Mountains, Arizonia.jpg|Web-like petroglyph on the White Tank Mountain Regional Park Waterfall Trail, Arizona

File:Chipping petroglyph on Waterfall Trail in the White Tank Mountains.jpg|Chipping petroglyph on the White Tank Mountain Regional Park Waterfall Trail, Arizona

File:Arizona petroglyph 1117.JPG|Sample of petroglyphs at Painted Rock near Gila Bend, Arizona off Interstate 8.

File:Puye 1.jpg|Puye Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico

File:ThunderBird Rock Carved Petroglyph at Twin Buffs.jpg|ThunderBird Rock Carved Petroglyph in West Central Wisconsin

File:Sanilac Petroglyphs - Archer.jpg|Archer-like figure, Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park, Sanilac County, Michigan

File:Sky Rock.jpg|Sky Rock Petroglyphs, Bishop, California.

File:Sky Rock paint.jpg|Sky Rock Petroglyphs, Bishop, California.

= Oceania =

== Australia ==

File:Petroglyphmanandwoman.jpg|Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales

File:Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph.jpg|Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales

File:Petroglyph - well endowed.JPG|Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales

File:Mutawintji National Park Petroglyph.JPG|Mutawintji National Park, New South Wales

File:Burrup rock art.JPG|Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

  • Harmanşah, Ömür (ed) (2014), Of Rocks and Water: An Archaeology of Place, 2014, Oxbow Books, {{ISBN|1-78297-674-4}}, 9781782976745
  • Rawson, Jessica (ed). The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7141-2446-9}}
  • Sickman, Laurence, in: Sickman L. & Soper A., The Art and Architecture of China, Pelican History of Art, 3rd ed 1971, Penguin (now Yale History of Art), LOC 70-125675

Further reading

  • Beckensall, Stan and Laurie, Tim, Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale, County Durham Books, 1998 {{ISBN|1-897585-45-4}}
  • Beckensall, Stan, Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland, Tempus Publishing, 2001 {{ISBN|0-7524-1945-5}}

External links

{{Commons category|Petroglyphs}}

  • [http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/rockart.html Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database] Bancroft Library's citations to rock art literature.

{{Prehistoric technology| state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Rock art