A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated with

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

peoples. The word comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

prefix , from meaning "stone", and meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as . Another form of petroglyph, normally found in literate cultures, a

rock relief A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction with, ro ...

or rock-cut relief is a

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

sculpture carved on "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. While these relief carvings are a category of rock art, sometimes found in conjunction with

rock-cut architecture Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarryi ...

, they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art, which concentrate on engravings and paintings by prehistoric or nonliterate cultures. Some of these reliefs exploit the rock's natural properties to define an image. Rock reliefs have been made in many cultures, especially in the

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

. Rock reliefs are generally fairly large, as they need to be to make an impact in the open air. Most have figures that are larger than life-size. Stylistically, a culture's rock relief carvings relate to other types of sculpture from the period concerned. Except for Hittite and Persian examples, they are generally discussed as part of the culture's sculptural practice. The vertical relief is most common, but reliefs on essentially horizontal surfaces are also found. The term ''relief'' typically excludes relief carvings inside natural or human-made caves, that are common in India. Natural rock formations made into statues or other sculpture in the round, most famously at the

Great Sphinx of Giza The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, E ...

, are also usually excluded. Reliefs on large boulders left in their natural location, like the Hittite

İmamkullu relief The Hittite İmamkullu relief (previously also ''İmamkulu'') is a rock relief near the town of İmamkullu in Tomarza district in Kayseri Province, Turkey. In Turkish it is known as ''Yazılı Kaya'' ("inscribed cliff") and ''Şimşekkaya'' ("l ...

, are likely to be included, but smaller boulders described as

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

or carved

orthostat This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic (Stone Age) structures. Forecourt In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb. Forecourts ...

s. In scholarly texts, a ''petroglyph'' is a rock engraving, whereas a ''petrograph'' is a rock painting. In common usage, the two words are synonymous. Both types of image belong to the wider and more general category of rock art or

parietal art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...

Petroforms Petroforms, also known as boulder outlines or boulder mosaics, are human-made shapes and patterns made by lining up large rocks on the open ground, often on quite level areas. Petroforms in North America were originally made by various Native A ...

, or patterns and shapes made by many large rocks and boulders over the ground, are also quite different.

Inuksuit An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) or inukshuk (from the iu, ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ; alternatively in Inuinnaqtun, in Iñupiaq, in Greenlandic) is a type of stone landmark or cairn built by, and for the use of, Inuit, Iñupiat, Kalaallit, Yu ...

are also not petroglyphs, they are human-made rock forms found only in the Arctic region.

History

Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia and Siberia, many examples of petroglyphs found globally are dated to approximately the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

and late

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

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 system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...

s, the existence and creation of petroglyphs began to suffer and tail off, with different forms of art, such as

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

s and

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarit ...

s, 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 Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

was made in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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. 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 gong A rock gong is a slab of rock that is hit like a drum, and is an example of a lithophone. Examples have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Regional names for the rock gong include ''kungering'', ''kwerent dutse'', ''gwangalan'', ''kungereng'' ...

s". Some petroglyphs likely formed types of symbolic communication, such as types of

proto-writing Proto-writing consists of visible marks communicating limited information. Such systems emerged from earlier traditions of symbol systems in the early Neolithic, as early as the 7th millennium BC in Eastern Europe and China. They used ideograph ...

. Later glyphs from the

Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (the ...

in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary between

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s, 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 Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

, 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 The Reverend John Collingwood Bruce, FSA (1805–5 April 1892) was an English nonconformist minister and schoolmaster, known as a historian of Tyneside and author. He co-operated with John Stokoe in compiling the major song collection '' Nort ...

agreed that the carvings had "... a common origin, and indicate a symbolic meaning, representing some popular thought." In his cataloguing of Scottish rock art, Ronald Morris summarized 104 different theories on their interpretation. More controversial explanations of similarities are grounded in

Jungian psychology Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

and the views of

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who establ ...

. According to these theories it is possible that the similarity of petroglyphs (and other

atavistic In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when ...

archetypal The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

s) from different cultures and continents is a result of the

genetically Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in ...

inherited structure of the human brain. Other theories suggest that petroglyphs were carved by spiritual leaders, such as

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

s, in an

altered state of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. By 1892, the expression was in use in relation to hypnosis, though there ...

, perhaps induced by the use of natural

hallucinogens Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

. Many of the

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

s (known as

form constant A form constant is one of several geometric patterns which are recurringly observed during hypnagogia, hallucinations and altered states of consciousness. History In 1926, Heinrich Klüver systematically studied the effects of mescaline (peyote ...

s) which recur in petroglyphs and

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are mor ...

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 Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

, and other stimuli. Recent analysis of surveyed and GPS-logged petroglyphs around the world has identified commonalities indicating pre-historic (7,000–3,000 BCE) intense

aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

s, or natural light display in the sky, observable across the continents. The Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) of the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

studies present-day links between religion and rock art among the

San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, ...

of the

Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...

. 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.

List of petroglyph sites

Africa

Algeria

Tassili n'Ajjer Tassili n'Ajjer ( Berber: ''Tassili n Ajjer'', ar, طاسيلي ناجر; "Plateau of rivers") is a national park in the Sahara desert, located on a vast plateau in southeastern Algeria. Having one of the most important groupings of prehistoric ...

Cameroon

Bidzar Bidzar is an Archaeology, archaeological site from Guider, Cameroon, featuring petroglyphs between 3000 and 300 years old. The site, currently under threat from local cement and marble manufacturing operations, is being considered for inclusion i ...

Central African Republic

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

Chad

* Niola Doa

Republic of the Congo

* The

Niari Valley The Niari valley is a fertile region in the Niari Department in the south west of the Republic of the Congo. The soil in the area is good and this state is an important agricultural and industrial region. Geography The Mayombé Escarpment in the ...

, 250 km south west of Brazzaville

Egypt

Wadi Hammamat Wadi Hammamat ( en, Valley of Many Baths, ''India way; gateway to India'') is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancien ...

Qift Qift ( arz, قفط ; cop, Ⲕⲉϥⲧ, link=no ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; grc, Κόπτος, link=no ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated und ...

, 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 boat Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with ...

s dated to 4000 BCE * Inscription Rock in South

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

, 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 Gebel el-Silsila or Gebel Silsileh ( ar, جبل السلسلة - Jabal al-Silsila or Ǧabal as-Silsila – "Chain of Mountains" or "Series of Mountains"; Egyptian: ẖny, Khenyt,Kitchen (1983). Kheny or Khenu – "The Place of Rowing"; German: ...

. The rock faces have been used for extensive quarrying of materials for temple building especially during the period specified as the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. The Giraffe depictions are located near a

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

of the king

Amenhotep IV Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

. The images are not dated, but they are probably dated from the Predynastic periods.

Ethiopia

Tiya Tiya is a town in central Ethiopia. It is situated in the Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region south of Addis Ababa. It is also the location of the Tiya archaeological site, famous for its unique stelae. Demogra ...

Gabon

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

Libya

Akakus The Acacus Mountains or Tadrart Akakus ( ar, تدرارت أكاكوس / ALA-LC: ''Tadrārt Akākūs'') form a mountain range in the desert of the Ghat District in western Libya, part of the Sahara. They are situated east of the city of Ghat, Lib ...

Jebel Uweinat Mount Uwaynat or Gabal El Uweinat ( ar, جبل العوينات ', Arabic for 'Mountain of the springs') is a mountain range in the area of the Egyptian-Libyan- Sudanese tripoint. Because of thousands of prehistoric rock art sites, it is consi ...

Morocco

* The

Draa River :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

valley

Namibia

Twyfelfontein Twyfelfontein (Afrikaans: ''uncertain spring''), officially known as ǀUi-ǁAis ( Damara/Nama: ''jumping waterhole''), is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. It consists of a spring in a valley flanked ...

Niger

* Life-size

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

carvings on Dabous Rock, Aïr Mountains

South Africa

Driekops Eiland Driekops Eiland (also called Driekopseiland) is a rock engraving or petroglyph site in the bed of the Riet River close to the town of Plooysburg, near Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. The engravings There are more than 3500 individual engra ...

near

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

ǀXam and ǂKhomani heartland The ǀXam and ǂKhomani heartland tentative World Heritage Site consists of regions located to the South and North of Upington, respectively, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The ǀXam and ǂKhomani (more correctly Nǁnǂe) people w ...

in the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre is a rock engraving site with visitor centre on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe San situated about 16 km from Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a declared Provincial Heritage Site managed by the N ...

near

Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to it ...

* Keiskie near

Calvinia Calvinia is a regional town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa named after the French people, French religious reformer Jean Calvin. The town falls under the Hantam Local Municipality which forms part of the Namakwa District Municipalit ...

Tunisia * Ouesslat Mountain, Ain Kanfous and Zamla *

Tameghza Tamerza (or Tameghza, تمغزة) is th largest mountain oasis in Tunisia, known as '' Ad Turres'' by the Romans. It has a canyon and an abandoned old town. The town was abandoned after the river flooded for 22 days in 1969. It is located north o ...

* The

Tataouine Tataouine ( ber, Tiṭṭawin; ar, تطاوين) is a city in southern Tunisia. It is the capital of the Tataouine Governorate. The below-ground "cave dwellings" of the native Berber population, designed for coolness and protection, render the ...

Region, in particular

Ghomrassen Ghomrassen ( ar, غمراسن) is a city of southeast Tunisia located from Tataouine and from Medenine. Administratively attached to the Tataouine, it is a municipality with 9,568 inhabitants at the 2014 Census. It is also the county seat of ...

and Smar

Zambia

Nyambwezi Falls Nyambwezi Falls are a waterfall located in the North-Western Province of Zambia. They are approximately high. Close to the lip of the falls, there is a rock shelter, which has petroglyphs and other evidence of late Stone Age The Stone Ag ...

in the north-west province.

Asia

Armenia

Ughtasar The Ukhtasar Petroglyphs ( hy, Ուխտասարի ժայռապատկերներ) are rock-carvings found on Mount Ukhtasar, "Pilgrim Mountain", near the town of Sisian in Armenia's southern province of Syunik Province, Syunik. Over 2,000 decor ...

Urtsadzor Urtsadzor ( hy, Ուրցաձոր) is a village in the Ararat Province of Armenia containing the former village of Chimankend. The village was previously the administrative capital of the Gharabaghlar District which existed in 1937–1951 in Soviet ...

Aragats Mount Aragats ( hy, Արագած, ) is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at above sea level, is the highest point of the Lesser Caucasus and Armenia. It is also one of the highest points in the Armenian Hi ...

* See also

Armenian Eternity sign The Armenian eternity sign ( hy, Յաւերժութեան Նշան, haverzhut’yan nshan) or Arevakhach (, "Sun Cross") is an ancient Armenian national symbol and a symbol of the national identity of the Armenian people. It is one of the most co ...

Azerbaijan

Gobustan State Reserve Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve ( az, Qobustan dövlət tarixi-bədii qoruğu) is located west of the settlement of Gobustan, about southwest of the centre of Baku. It was established in 1966, when the area was declared a national ...

* Gemigaya *

Kalbajar Kalbajar ( az, Kəlbəcər , ) is a city and the capital of the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan. Located on the Tartar river valley, it is away from the capital Baku. The city had a population of 7,246 before its capture by Armenian forces on ...

* Northern Absheron

China

Helan Mountains The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...

Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...

* Hua'an Engravings * Kangjia shimenzi in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

* Lianyungan Rock Engravings * Petroglyphs in Zhuhai *

Yin Mountains The Yin Mountains, also known by #Names, several other names, are a mountain range stretching across about of northern China. They form the southeastern border of the Gobi Desert and cross the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia and Hebei. Amon ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

Georgia

Trialeti petroglyphs Trialeti petroglyphs ( ka, თრიალეთის პეტროგლიფები, tr) is prehistoric rock art in the Trialeti area, in the Tsalka Municipality, engraved over a number of periods from the Mesolithic to the Middle Bronze Ag ...

Hong Kong

Eight sites in Hong Kong: *

Tung Lung Island Tung Lung Chau, previously known as Nam Tong Island or Nam Fat Tong is an island located off the tip of the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is also referred by Hong Kong people as Tung Lung To or Tung Lung Islan ...

Kau Sai Chau Kau Sai Chau is an island located off the coast of Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong, with an area of 6.70km², making it the 6th largest island of Hong Kong. It is under the administration of Sai Kung District. The island was formerly known a ...

Po Toi Island Po Toi (commonly , originally ) is the main island of the Po Toi Islands and the southernmost island of Hong Kong, with an area of 3.69 km². Name It is said that the island used to produce dried seaweeds (), which were shaped like the catt ...

Cheung Chau Cheung Chau (lit. "Long Island") is an island southwest of Hong Kong Island. It is nicknamed the 'dumbbell island (啞鈴島)' due to its shape. It has been inhabited for longer than most other places in Hong Kong, and had a population of 2 ...

Shek Pik Shek Pik () is an area located along the southwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. When the Shek Pik Reservoir was built, villages at Shek Pik were demolished and the villagers were relocated to other parts of Lantau Island and to Tsuen ...

on Lantau Island *

Wong Chuk Hang Wong Chuk Hang () is a neighbourhood in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. History Neolithic artifacts have been unearthed in a region called Chung Hom Wan, which is not far from Wong Chuk Hang. In 1550 the Hong Kong Vill ...

and Big Wave Bay on

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

Lung Ha Wan Lung Ha Wan () is a bay at the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong. It is located at the north end of Clear Water Bay Country Park. The main trail in the country park, Lung Ha Wan Country Trail was named after this bay. The area is also known f ...

Sai Kung Sai Kung may refer to: * Sai Kung Town, or just Sai Kung, a town and administrative area in the Sai Kung District, Hong Kong * Sai Kung Peninsula, a peninsula in Hong Kong * Sai Kung District, an administrative district in Hong Kong, which does no ...

India

Bhimbetka rock shelters The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age start ...

Raisen District Raisen District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of India. The town of Raisen is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bhopal Division. Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies is the first international university located ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. *

Kupgal petroglyphs The Kupgal petroglyphs are works of rock art found at Kupgal in Bellary district of Karnataka, India. Thousands of petroglyphs have been found at Kupgal, which date to the neolithic or even the old stone age. The site, which includes examples ...

on Dolerite Dyke, near

Bellary Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Ball ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India. * Kudopi,

Sindhudurg District Sindhudurg district (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is an administrative district of the Konkan division in India, which was carved out of the erstwhile Ratnagiri district. The district headquarters are located at Oros and the dis ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. * Hiwale,

, India. * Barsu,

Ratnagiri District Ratnagiri District (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.33% urban. The district ...

, India. * Devihasol,

, India * Edakkal Caves,

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

District,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. * Kollur, Triukoilur 35 km from

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. A large

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

with four petroglyphs that portray men with

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

and a wheel with spokes has been found. The discovery was made by K.T. Gandhirajan. This is the second instance when a dolmen with petrographs has been found in Tamil Nadu, India. In October 2018, petroglyphs were discovered in the

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...

and Rajapur areas in the

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

region of western

. Those rock carvings which might date back to 10,000 BC, depict animals like

hippopotamuses The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

and

rhinoceroses A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

which aren't found in that region of India. Some carving depicts, what appears to be

Pisces Pisces may refer to: * Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish * Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign * Pisces (constellation), a constellation **Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...

constellation.*

Perumukkal Perumukkal is a small village in the Tindivanam municipality of the Villuppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The major occupation of its residents is agriculture. In 2011 it had a population of 3,000. Etymology During the Chola ...

Tindivanam Tindivanam is a town and a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in Villupuram District after the headquarters town Villupuram. Important roads from north to south (NH 45) Tamil Nad ...

District,

, India. * Kollur,

. *

Unakoti Unkoti Hill is a sculptural emblem and ancient Shaivite place that hosts approx ''ninety-nine lakh ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine'' rock carvings figures and images of gods and goddesses. It is a place of worship with huge ...

near

Kailashahar Kailashahar (or Kôilāśohôr) is the fourth largest urban area in the north eastern state of India, Tripura, located near northwest Bangladesh border. It is a Municipal council and the administrative center of the Unakoti district, this city ...

North Tripura North Tripura is an administrative district in the state of Tripura in India. The district headquarters are located at Dharmanagar. The district occupies an area of 1422.19 km² and has a population of 693,947 (as of 2011). History The t ...

District,

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

, India. *

Usgalimal rock engravings Usgalimal rock engravings or Usgalimal Petroglyphs at Usgalimal village, in South Goa, is one of the most important prehistoric sites in western India. Overview Situated on the banks of river Kushavati, these engravings exhibit earliest traces ...

Kushavati Kushavati was a city in Kosala Kingdom as per epic Ramayana. The king of Kosala Lord Rama installed his son Lava at Sravasti on the northern part of the kingdom and Kusha at Kushavati in the south. It was located on the slopes of the Vindhya Rang ...

river banks, in Goa * Ladakhi rock art in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

, NW Indian Himalaya. *

Maharashtra

Petroglyphs 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 ...

, An eight ftlong petroglyph in Devache Gothane village in Rajapur district, Maharashtra. Petroglyphs In Maharashtra

. 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

During recent years a large number of rock carvings has been identified in different parts of Iran. The vast majority depict the

ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...

. Rock drawings were found in December 2016 near

Golpayegan Golpayegan ( fa, گلپایگان, Golpāyegān; also known as Shahr-e Golpāyegān meaning "City of Golpayegan") is a city and capital of Golpayegan County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 217,849, in 44,263 famil ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, which may be the oldest drawings discovered, with one cluster possibly 40,000 years old. Accurate estimations were unavailable due to US sanctions. Petroglyphs are the most ancient works of art left by humankind that provide an opening to the past eras of life and help us to discover different aspects of prehistoric lives. Tools to create petroglyphs can be classified by the age and the historical era; they could be flint, thighbone of hunted quarries, or metallic tools. 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.

Israel

* Kibbutz

Ginosar Ginosar ( he, גִּנּוֹסַר) is a kibbutz in the Plain of Ginosar on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Located north of Tiberias on Highway 90, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it ha ...

Har Karkom Har Karkom ( "Mountain of Saffron", also called Jabal Ideid) is a mountain in the southwest Negev desert in Israel, half way between Petra and Kadesh Barnea. On the basis that the Israelites travelled across the Sinai peninsula towards Petra in a ...

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

Japan

* Awashima shrine ( Kitakyūshū city)Nobuhiro, Yoshida (1994) ''The Handbook For Petrograph Fieldwork'', Chou Art Publishing, , p. 57 * Fugoppe Cave, Hokkaido *

Hikoshima (also called in Nihon Shoki) is an island on the south-west tip of Honshu, Japan. Geography The island is irregularly shaped and hilly. The strait, as narrow as , separates the island form the main island of Honshu. The parts of sprawling city ...

( Shimonoseki city) *

Miyajima may refer to: Places * Miyajima, another name for the Japanese island Itsukushima * Miyajima, Hiroshima, a former town on this island, merged into Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The name derives from a m ...

* Temiya cave ( Otaru city)

Jordan

Wadi Rum Wadi Rum ( ar, وادي رم ''Wādī Ramm'', also ''Wādī al-Ramm''), known also as the Valley of the Moon ( ar, وادي القمر ''Wādī al-Qamar''), is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, about to the east ...

Wadi Faynan Wadi Feynan or Wadi Faynan ( ar, وادي فينان) is a major wadi (seasonal river valley) and region in southern Jordan, on the border between Tafilah Governorate and Aqaba and Ma'an Governorates. It originates in the southern Jordanian Highla ...

Kazakhstan

* Koksu River, in

Almaty Province Almaty Region ( kk, Алматы облысы, Almaty oblysy; russian: Алматинская область, Almatinskaya oblast) is a Regions of Kazakhstan, region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Its capital, fro ...

Chumysh River The Chumysh () is a river in Russia, a right branch of the Ob River. It enters the Ob downriver from Barnaul. The Chumysh begins at the confluence of the Kara-Chumysh and the Tom-Chumysh rivers in Kemerovo Oblast. The Chumysh is long, and it dra ...

basin, *

Tamgaly Tas History and description of the monument Petroglyphs of Tamgaly Tas – "open-air temple" with rock paintings of Tibetan iconography and inscriptions dated to the second half of the 17th century. Cave paintings were created by the Oirat and Tibe ...

on the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

Tamgaly Tamgaly is a petroglyph site in the Zhetysu of Kazakhstan. Tamgaly became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Tamgaly is located 170 km (by road) northwest of Almaty. The earliest of the petroglyphs of Tamgaly date from the Bronze Age (abou ...

– a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

nearly of

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

Laos

Plain of Jars The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫິນ ''Thong Hai Hin'', ) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of ...

South Korea

Bangudae Petroglyphs Korea's National Treasure No. 285, the Bangudae Petroglyphs, are located mainly on flat vertical rock faces around 8m wide and around 5m high on steep cliffs on the riverside of the Daegokcheon stream, a branch of the Taehwa River, which runs eas ...

Kyrgyzstan

* Several sites in the

Tien Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

mountains:

Cholpon-Ata Cholpon-Ata ( ky, Чолпон-Ата, ''Çolpon-Ata'', چولپون-اتا, pronounced , literally "Venus-father", the name of a mythological protecting spirit) is a resort town on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan with a popula ...

, the Talas valley,

Saimaluu Tash Saymaluu-Tash ( ky, Саймалуу-Таш, meaning 'embroidered' or 'patterned stones' in Kyrgyz) is a petroglyph site and a national park in Jalal-Abad Region, Kyrgyzstan, south of Kazarman. Over 10,000 carved pictures—and perhaps as many ...

, and on the rock outcrop called Suleiman's Throne in

Osh Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош, romanised Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (e ...

in the

Fergana valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

Macau

Coloane Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...

Malaysia

Lumuyu Petroglyphs Lumuyu Petroglyphs or also called as Lumuyu Rock Carvings ( ms, Petroglif Lumuyu/Ukiran Batu Lumuyu) comprising several petroglyphs situated not far from the Bekuku Village in Ulu Tomani of Tenom District in Sabah, Malaysia. History The firs ...

Mongolia

* Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai, UNESCO World Heritage site, 2011

Pakistan

* Ancient Rock Carvings of Sindh * Northern Areas#Rock art and petroglyphs, Rock art and petroglyphs in Northern Areas,

Philippines

* Angono Petroglyphs of Rizal, Philippines

Saudi Arabia

File:وادي قرن.jpg, Petroglyphs at Wadi Qarn. File:Madain Saleh (6720062703).jpg, Petroglyphs at Hegra (Mada'in Salih), Mada'in Salih. File:Inscriptions of musical instruments in Hejaz.jpg, Petroglyphs of musical instruments. File:جبال حرة.jpg, Petroglyphs of animals, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk. File:جيال الزيدانية النقش الهيروغليفي.jpg, Hieroglyphic inscriptions, Tabuk. File:نقوش جبل كويفر الاسلامية.jpg, Islamic inscriptions, Al-Qassim Province, Qasim. File:جبل دويدة.jpg, Thamudic inscriptions. * "Graffiti Rocks", about 110 km SW of Riyadh off the Mecca highway * Arwa (village), Arwa, west of Riyadh * al Jawf, near al Dumat al-Jandal, Jawf * Jubbah, Saudi Arabia, Jubbah, Umm Samnan, north of Hail * Janin Cave, south of Hail * Yatib, south of Hail, Saudi Arabia, Hail * Milihiya, south of Hail * Jebel al Lawz, north of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk * Wadi Damm, near Tabuk * Wadi Abu Oud, near al Ula * Shuwaymis, north of Madina * Jebel al Manjour & Ratt, north of Madina * Hanakiya, north of Madina * Shimli * Bir Hima, north of Najran * Tathleeth, north of Najran * Al-Magar, in Najd

Taiwan

* The Wanshan Rock Carvings Archeological Site near Maolin District, Kaohsiung, were discovered between 1978 and 2002.

Thailand

* Pha Taem National Park

Vietnam

* Rock engravings in Sapa, Sa Pa (town), Sa Pa, Lào Cai Province * Rock engravings in Namdan, Xín Mần District, Hà Giang Province File:Cheung Chau Rock Carving 1.jpg, Rock carving on

Island, Hong Kong. This 3000-year-old rock carving was reported by geologists in 1970 File:KyrgyzPetroglyphs.jpg, Petroglyphs at Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan File:Tanbaly.jpg,

petroglyphs in Kazakhstan File:Buddhas at ili.jpg, Buddhist carvings at

in Kazakhstan File:Angono Petroglyphs1.jpg, Petroglyphs on a rock wall found in the Sierra Madre (Philippines), Sierra Madre mountain range, Rizal, Philippines File:Petoro.JPG, Petroglyph found in Awashima shrine (Japan)

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 Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume, 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, A Coruña, 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

* Boscawen-un, St Buryan * Cup and ring mark, Cup and ring marked rocks in: ** Northumberland, ** County Durham, ** Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire, ** Gardom's Edge, Derbyshire, ** Creswell Crags, Nottingham

Finland

* Hauensuoli, Hanko, Finland, Hanko, Finland

France

* Vallée des Merveilles, Mercantour National Park, 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

* Newgrange * Knowth * Dowth * Loughcrew * Hill of Tara, Tara * Clonfinlough Stone * Boheh Stone

Italy

* Rock Drawings in Valcamonica –

, Italy (biggest European site, over 350,000) * Bagnolo stele, Valcamonica, Italy * Grotta del Genovese, Sicily, Italy * Grotta dell'Addaura, Sicily, Italy * Rock Engraving Park-Grosio, Rock Engravings in Grosio (in Valtellina), 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

* Knockmany File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland left.jpg, Leftmost of three central stones, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland centre.jpg, Central of three central stones, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland File:Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland right.JPG, A stone on the right of the passage, Knockmany Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Sess Kilgreen File:Sess kilgreen 1.jpg, Sess Kilgreen Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland File:Sess kilgreen 2.jpg, Sess Kilgreen Chambered Tomb, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland

Norway

* Rock carvings at Alta, World Heritage Site (1985) * Rock carvings in Central Norway * Rock carvings at Møllerstufossen * Rock carvings at Tennes

Portugal

* Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley, Portugal File:Rock Art Foz Coa 01.jpg, Carvings of 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

* Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume, North Ayrshire * Burghead Bull, Burghead * Townhead, Galloway * Ballochmyle cup and ring marks

Spain

* Petroglyphs from Galicia (Spain), Galicia * Petroglyphs from the Canary Islands (Spain)

Russia

* White Sea petroglyphs, Republic of Karelia, Russia * Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea, Petroglyph Park near Petrozavodsk–Lake Onega, Russia * Tomskaya Pisanitsa Museum, Tomskaya Pisanitsa * Kanozero Petroglyphs * Sikachi-Alyan, Khabarovsk Krai * Kapova cave, Bashkortostan * Sunduki mountain range, Sunduki Petroglyphs, Khakassia

Sweden

* Rock Carvings in Tanum, Tanumshede (Bohuslän); World Heritage Site (1994) * Himmelstalund (by Norrköping in Östergötland) * Enköping (Uppland) * Skåne, Southwest Skåne (Götaland) * Alvhem (Västra Götaland) * Torhamn (Blekinge) * Nämforsen (Ångermanland) * Häljesta (Västmanland) * Slagsta (Södermanland) * Glösa (Jämtland) * Gärde (Jämtland) * Flatruet (Härjedalen) * Grannberget (Härjedalen) * The King's Grave at Kivik * Rock carvings at Norrfors, Umeå * Släbro rock carvings in Nyköping (Södermanland)

Turkey

* Kagizman, Kars Province, Kars * Cunni Cave, Erzurum Province, Erzurum * Esatli, Ordu Province, Ordu * Gevaruk Valley, Hakkâri Province, Hakkâri * Hakkari Trisin, Hakkâri Province, Hakkâri * Latmos / Beşparmak Mountains, Beşparmak * Güdül, Ankara Province, Ankara

Ukraine

Kamyana Mohyla Kamyana Mohyla ( uk, Кам'яна Могила; literally: "stone grave") is an archaeological site in the Molochna River (literally: "Milk river") valley, about a mile from the village of Terpinnia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. Petroglyphs ...

, Zaporizhzhia Oblast * Stone stelae of the Ukraine

Wales

* Garn Turne, Pembrokeshire

Central and South America and the Caribbean

Argentina

* Cueva de las Manos, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, Santa Cruz * Talampaya National Park, La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja * Lihué Calel National Park, La Pampa Province, La Pampa File:Talampaya petroglyphs (1).jpg, Talampaya National Park, La Rioja Province, Argentina File:Petroglifo001.jpg, Petroglyph on Tunduqueral hill at Uspallata, Argentina

Aruba

* Arikok National Park * Quadiriki Caves * Ayo and Casabari Rock Formations

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. * Serra da Capivara National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Piauí * Vale do Catimbau National Park, Pernambuco * Ingá Stone, Paraíba * Costao do Santinho, Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina * Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Lagoa Santa (Holy Lake), Minas Gerais * Ivolandia, Goiás 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

* Rincón las Chilcas, Combarbalá * Easter Island#Petroglyphs, Easter Island petroglyphs File:Settlers at La Silla.jpg, Numerous rocks boasting thousand-year-old carvings. File:The Ascent of Man.jpg, Modern science and the spectre of ancient man coexist in this thought-provoking image of a petroglyph. File:Llamas at La Silla.jpg, Llamas at La Silla File:Motu Nui.jpg, Petroglyphs at Orongo, Rapa Nui (Easter Island). A Makemake (mythology), Makemake at the base and two Tangata Manu, birdmen higher up

Colombia

* El Abra, Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca * Chiribiquete Natural National Park File:Alb.jpg, El Abra archaeological site, Cundinamarca Department, 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 petroglyph 3.jpg, Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete Natural National Park. (Possible mammal). File:Chiribiquete AJ11calabazos.JPG, Petroglyphs in the Chiribiquete Natural National Park.

Costa Rica

* Rincon de la Vieja, Guanacaste Province, Guanacaste

Dominican Republic

* Cueva de las Maravillas, San Pedro de Macorís Province, San Pedro de Macorís * Las Caritas, near Lake Enriquillo * Los Tres Ojos, Santo Domingo Province, Santo Domingo

Grenada

* Mt. Rich Petroglyphs

Montserrat

* Soldier Ghaut petroglyphs

Nicaragua

* El Ceibo Museums#Petroglyphs, El Ceibo Petroglyphs, Ometepe, Rivas, Nicaragua, Rivas * Ometepe Island#Petroglyphs, Ometepe Petroglyphs, Ometepe, Rivas, Nicaragua, Rivas

Paraguay

* Amambay Department

Peru

* Cumbe Mayo, Cajamarca region, Cajamarca * Pusharo, Petroglyphs of Pusharo, Manú National Park, Madre de Dios region * Petroglyphs of Quiaca, Puno Region * Petroglyphs of Jinkiori, Cusco Region

Saint Kitts and Nevis

* Carib Petroglyphs, Wingfield Manor Estate, Saint Kitts

Suriname

* Corantijn Basin

Trinidad and Tobago

* c:File:Caurita Petroglyph.jpg, Caurita

Venezuela

* Caicara del Orinoco, Bolívar (state), Bolívar * Morrocoy National Park, Falcón * Piedra Pintada Archeological Park within San Esteban National Park, Guaraca, Carabobo * Sardinata Beach, Amazonas (Venezuelan state), Amazonas * Taima-Taima, Taima Taima, Falcón

North America

Canada

* Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia * Petroglyph Provincial Park, Nanaimo, British Columbia * Petroglyphs Provincial Park, north of Peterborough, Ontario * Agnes Lake, Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario * Sproat Lake Provincial Park, near Port Alberni, British Columbia * Stuart Lake, British Columbia * Saint Victor, Saskatchewan, St. Victor Provincial Park, Saskatchewan * Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, east of Milk River, Alberta * Gabriola Island, British Columbia * East Sooke Regional Park, British Columbia * Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre, Herschel, Saskatchewan, Herschel Saskatchewan * Lake Temagami, Ontario

Mexico

* Boca de Potrerillos, Mina, Nuevo León * Chiquihuitillos, Mina, Nuevo León * Cuenca del Río Victoria, near Xichú, Guanajuato * Coahuiltecan Cueva Ahumada, Nuevo León * La Proveedora, Caborca, Sonora * Samalayuca Dune Fields, Samalayuca, Ciudad Juárez, Juarez, Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua * Las Labradas (Sinaloa), Las Labradas, near Mazatlán, Sinaloa

United States

Petroglyph on the western coast of Hawaii

Petroglyph Point at Mesa Verde National Park by RO

* Arches National Park, Utah * Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico * Barnesville Petroglyph, Ohio * Bloomington Petroglyph Park, Utah * Capitol Reef National Park, Utah * Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, Caguana Indian Park, Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado, Puerto Rico * Columbia Hills State Park, Washington (state), Washington * Corn Springs, Colorado Desert, California * Coso Rock Art District, Coso Range, northern Mojave Desert, California * Death Valley National Park, California * Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah * Dighton Rock, Massachusetts * Dominguez Canyon Wilderness, Colorado * Fremont Indian State Park Utah * Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park Washington (state), Washington * Grand Traverse Bay#Culture, Grand Traverse Bay Michigan * Great Basin National Park Nevada * Grimes Point, Nevada * Independence Slab, Ohio * Inscription Rock (Kelleys Island, Ohio), Ohio * Jeffers Petroglyphs, Minnesota * Judaculla Rock, North Carolina * Kanopolis State Park, Kansas * La Cueva del Indio (Indians Cave), Arecibo, Puerto Rico * La Piedra Escrita (The Written Rock), Jayuya, Puerto Rico * Lava Beds National Monument, Tule Lake, California * Legend Rock, Legend Rock Petroglyph Site, Thermopolis, Wyoming * Lemonweir Glyphs, Wisconsin * Leo Petroglyph, Leo, Ohio * Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado * Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument, Utah * Olympic National Park, Washington (state), Washington * Paintlick Mountain, Tazewell County, Virginia, Tazewell, Virginia * Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas * Petrified Forest National Park Arizona * Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico * Picacho Mountain, Picacho Arizona * Picture Canyon, Flagstaff, Arizona * Picture Rocks, Picture Rocks, Arizona * Puye Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico * Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada * Rochester Rock Art Panel, Utah * Ring Mountain (California), Ring Mountain, Marin County, California * Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands * Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park, Sanilac County, Michigan * Sedona, Arizona * Seminole Canyon, Texas * Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada * South Mountain Park, Arizona * The Cove Palisades State Park, Oregon * Three Rivers Petroglyphs, New MexicoThree Rivers Petroglyph Site
. Nm.blm.gov (2012-09-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-12. * Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center, Tibes Indian Park, Ponce, Puerto Rico * Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada * Washington State Park, Washington County, Missouri * West Virginia glyphs * White Mountain (Wyoming), Rock Springs, Wyoming * White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Waddell, Arizona * Winnemucca Lake, Nevada * Writing Rock State Historical Site, North Dakota * Monolyth at Caguas & El Yunque, Puerto Rico * Track Rock, Union County Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia * Forsyth Petroglyph Originally discovered, locates and documented near Cumming, Georgia in Forsyth County, Georgia, Forsyth County but has been relocated to the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia 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 (state), 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, Lemonweir Glyphs, ThunderBird Rock Carved Petroglyph in West Central Wisconsin File:Sanilac Petroglyphs - Archer.jpg, Detail of a carved 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

* Arnhem Land / Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia * Gosford Glyphs in Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast, NSW (widely regarded as archaeological forgery) * Murujuga, Western Australia – world heritage assessed * Sydney Rock Engravings, New South Wales File:Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph.jpg, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales File:Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park 20 metre long petroglyph.JPG, Part of a 20-metre-long petroglyph at 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

References

* Harmanşah, Ömür (ed) (2014), ''Of Rocks and Water: An Archaeology of Place'', 2014, Oxbow Books, , 9781782976745 * Jessica Rawson, Rawson, Jessica (ed). ''The British Museum Book of Chinese Art'', 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, * Laurence Sickman, 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

External links

Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database
Bancroft Library's citations to rock art literature. {{Authority control Petroglyphs, Rock art