Rock art in Iran, Teimareh region
Rock carving known as Meerkatze (named by archaeologist Leo Frobenius), rampant lionesses in Wadi Mathendous, Mesak Settafet region of Libya.
European petroglyphs: Laxe dos carballos in Campo Lameiro, Galicia, Spain (4th–2nd millennium BCE), depicting cup and ring marks and deer hunting scenes
Petroglyph of a camel; Negev, southern Israel.
Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, 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 petro-, from πέτρα petra meaning "stone", and γλύφω glýphō meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe.

In scholarly texts, a petroglyph is a rock engraving, whereas a petrograph (or pictograph) is a rock painting.[1][2] In common usage, the words are sometimes used interchangeably.[3][4] 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. Inuksuit are not petroglyphs, but human-made rock forms found in Arctic regions.

History

Composite image of petroglyphs from Scandinavia (Häljesta, Västmanland in Sweden). Nordic Bronze Age. The glyphs have been painted to make them more visible.
A petroglyph of a caravan of bighorn sheep 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.

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 gongs".[5]

Some petroglyphs likely formed types of symbolic communication, such as types of proto-writing.[6] 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."[7] In his cataloguing of Scottish rock art, Ronald Morris summarized 104 different theories on their interpretation.[8]

Other theories suggest that petroglyphs were carved by spiritual leaders, such as shamans, in an altered state of consciousness,[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

List of petroglyph sites

Africa

A petroglyph in Bidzar, Cameroon

Algeria

Cameroon

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

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[12][13]
  • 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

Lion Plate at Twyfelfontein in Namibia (2014)

Namibia

Niger

South Africa

Tunisia[15]

Zambia

Asia

Armenia

Petroglyphs at Ughtasar, Armenia

Azerbaijan

China

Georgia

Hong Kong

Eight sites in Hong Kong:

India

Petroglyphs in Ladakh, India

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

IRAN ROCK ARTS
Map of petroglyphs and pictographs of Iran

During recent years a large number of rock carvings has been identified in different parts of Iran. The vast majority depict the ibex.[29][30] 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.[31]

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.[32]

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Hunting scene in Koksu petroglyphs

Laos

South Korea

Kyrgyzstan

Macau

Malaysia

Mongolia

  • Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai, UNESCO World Heritage site, 2011[35][36]

Pakistan

Philippines

Saudi Arabia

  • "Graffiti Rocks", about 110 km SW of Riyadh off the Mecca highway
  • Arwa, west of Riyadh
  • al Jawf, near al Jawf
  • al Jawf, Camel Carving Site
  • Jubbah, Umm Samnan, north of Hail
  • Janin Cave, south of Hail
  • Yatib, south of Hail
  • Milihiya, south of Hail
  • Jebel al Lawz, north of 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

Thailand

Vietnam

Yemen

Europe

England

Finland

  • Hauensuoli, Hanko, Finland

France

Ireland

Italy

Northern Ireland

  • Sess Kilgreen

Norway

Portugal

Scotland

Spain

Millenarian rock carvings, Laxe dos carballos at Campo Lameiro, this detail depicts a deer hit by several spears

[38]

Russia

Petroglyph Park near Petrozavodsk–Lake Onega, Russia
Mammoth on the basalt stone in Sikachi-Alyan, Russia
White Sea petroglyphs, Republic of Karelia, Russia

Sweden

Turkey

Ukraine

Wales

Central and South America and the Caribbean

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.[40]

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Montserrat

Nicaragua

Paraguay

Fertility symbols, called "Ita Letra" by the local Panambi'y people, in a natural shelter in Amambay, Paraguay

Peru

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

  • Caurita
    The only known Amerindian petroglyph in Trinidad

Venezuela

North America

Canada

Mexico

Near Parras, Coahuila

United States

Petroglyph on western coast of Hawaii
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
A color picture of some petroglyphs on a tan sandstone cliff face
Modern Hopi have interpreted the petroglyphs at Mesa Verde National Park'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

Oceania

Australia

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wieschhoff, Heinrich Albert (1945). Africa. University of Pennsylvania Press. 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.
  2. ↑ T. Douglas Price (2012). Europe Before Rome: A Site-by-Site Tour of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Oxford University Press. p. 116. This art falls into two categories, depending on how it is made: petroglyphs are carved into rock, and pictographs are painted on the rock.
  3. ↑ "petrograph". Merriam-Webster. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Random House. 2001. p. 1449. ISBN 0-681-31723-X.
  5. ↑ Ancient Indians made 'rock music'. BBC News (2004-03-19). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  6. ↑ Houston, Stephen D. (1 October 2004). "The Archaeology of Communication Technologies". Annual Review of Anthropology. 33 (1): 223–250. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724. ISSN 0084-6570.
  7. ↑ J. Collingwood Bruce (1868; cited in Beckensall, S., Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained. Pendulum Publications, Rothbury, Northumberland. 1983:19)
  8. ↑ Morris, Ronald (1979) The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and The Isle of Man, Blandford Press, ISBN 978-0-7137-0974-2.
  9. ↑ [See: D. Lewis-Williams, A Cosmos in Stone: Interpreting Religion and Society through Rock Art (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2002).]
  10. ↑ Rockart.wits.ac.za Archived 2017-07-30 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  11. ↑ "Rock Art Research Institute (RARI)". University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Huyge, Dirk; Vandenberghe, Dimitri A.G.; De Dapper, Morgan; Mees, Florias; Claes, Wouter; Darnell, John C. (21 November 2011). "First evidence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa: securing the age of the Qurta petroglyphs (Egypt) through OSL dating". Antiquity. 85 (330): 1184–1193. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00061998. S2CID 130471822. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Egypt: The Aurochs of Qurta". World Archaeology (53). 28 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Parkington, J. Morris, D. & Rusch, N. 2008. Karoo rock engravings. Clanwilliam: Krakadouw Trust; Morris, D. & Beaumont, P. 2004. Archaeology in the Northern Cape: some key sites. Kimberley: McGregor Museum.
  15. ↑ Ben Nasr, Jaafar (June 2015). "The Rock Art of Tunisia When, Why and to whom?". Expression (8).
  16. ↑ Yahia-Acheche, Sophie (2 June 2013). "Ousselat (Jebel — ; Tunisie) : Préhistoire et art rupestre". Encyclopédie berbère (in French) (36): 5986–5993. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2870. ISSN 1015-7344.
  17. ↑ Jaafar Ben Nasr (November 2021). "Les peintures rupestres de l'abri de Zamla (Jebel Ousselat – Tunisie centrale) : la représentation d'une planimétrie agraire ?". Antiquités Africaines. 57: 19–32.
  18. ↑ Roux, Henri (1911). "Peinture Rupestre du Djebel-Bliji (Sud -Tunisien)". Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris. 2 (1): 31–32. doi:10.3406/bmsap.1911.8311.
  19. ↑ Mohamed Elhedi Ghrabi (2009). "Les peintures rupestres de Ghomrassen" (PDF). Valcamonica Symposium. XXIII.
  20. ↑ Ben Nasr, Jaâfar; Houla, Yassine (1 October 2020). "Les gravures rupestres d'Aïn Charchara (Smar-Tataouine; Sud-Est tunisien)". L'Anthropologie. Art préhistorique (in French). 124 (3): 102762. doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2020.102762. ISSN 0003-5521. S2CID 225122514.
  21. ↑ Khechoyan, Anna (January 2007). "The Rock Art of the Mt. Aragats System | Anna Khechoyan". 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. Academia.edu. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 4 O'Sullivan, Rebecca (2018). "East Asia: Rock Art". Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (2 ed.). Springer. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_3131-1. ISBN 978-3-319-51726-1.
  23. ↑ Dolmen with petroglyphs found near Villupuram. Beta.thehindu.com (2009-09-19). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  24. ↑ "Prehistoric art hints at lost Indian civilisation". BBC. 1 October 2018.
  25. ↑ "12000-year-old-petroglyphs-in-india". 8 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Kamat, Nandkumar. "Prehistoric Goan Shamanism". The Navhind Times. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  27. ↑ Petroglyphs of Ladakh: The Withering Monuments. tibetheritagefund.org
  28. ↑ Sriram, Jayant (20 October 2018). "The petroglyphs of Ratnagiri". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Iran Petroglyphs – سنگ نگاره های ایران Iran Petroglyphs". iranrockart.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014.
  30. ↑ Foundation, Bradshaw. "Middle East Rock Art Archive – Iran Rock Art Gallery". bradshawfoundation.com.
  31. ↑ "Archaeologist uncovers 'the world's oldest drawings'". independent.co.uk. 12 December 2016.
  32. ↑ Iran Petroglyphs, Universal Common language (book); Iran Petrogylphs, Ideogram Symbols (book); Rock Museums Rock Arts (Iran Petroglyphs) (book); For more information : http://iranrockart.com Archived 2011-04-10 at the Wayback Machine ; http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/middle_east/iran_rock_art/index.php ; 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/
  33. 1 2 3 Nobuhiro, Yoshida (1994) The Handbook For Petrograph Fieldwork, Chou Art Publishing, ISBN 4-88639-699-2, p. 57
  34. ↑ Nobuhiro, Yoshida (1994) The Handbook For Petrograph Fieldwork, Chou Art Publishing, ISBN 4-88639-699-2, p. 54
  35. ↑ Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai – UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Whc.unesco.org (2011-06-28). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  36. ↑ Fitzhugh, William W. and Kortum, Richard (2012) 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.
  37. ↑ "British Rock Art Blog | A Forum about Prehistoric Rock Art in the British Islands". Rockartuk.wordpress.com. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  38. ↑ Photos Archived 2011-03-01 at the Wayback Machine. Celticland.com. (2007-08-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  39. ↑ "Umeå, Norrfors". Europreart.net. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  40. ↑ Choi, Charles. "Call this ancient rock carving 'little horny man'." Science on NBC News. 22 Feb 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  41. ↑ "Settlers at La Silla". www.eso.org. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  42. ↑ "Llamas at La Silla". ESO Picture of the Week. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  43. 1 2 "Ometepe Island Info – El Ceibo". ometepeislandinfo.com. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  44. ↑ Petroglyph Provincial Park, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island BC Archived 2004-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Britishcolumbia.com. Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  45. ↑ "Petroglyph Park - Gabriola Museum". gabriolamuseum.org. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  46. ↑ Bill Steer (27 July 2016). "Petroglyphs - Temagami's Rare Works of Art". Northern Ontario Travel. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  47. ↑ Keyser, James D. (July 1992). Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-97160-5.
  48. ↑ Moore, Donald W. Petroglyph Canyon Tours. Desertusa.com. Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  49. ↑ "Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park".
  50. ↑ Grimes Point National Recreation Trail, Nevada BLM Archaeological Site Archived 2006-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Americantrails.org (2012-01-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  51. ↑ Museums & Historic Sites Archived 2007-07-05 at the Wayback Machine. ohiohistory.org. Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  52. ↑ "Paint Lick". Craborchardmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  53. ↑ "Petroglyph National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)". nps.gov.
  54. ↑ Three Rivers Petroglyph Site Archived 2007-06-18 at the Wayback Machine. Nm.blm.gov (2012-09-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
  • 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
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