Apetroglyph is animage created by removing part of arock surface by incising, picking, carving, orabrading, as a form ofrock art. OutsideNorth 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 ofUNESCO'sWorld Heritage Sites. Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated withprehistoric peoples. The word comes from theGreek prefixpetro-, fromπέτραpetra meaning "stone", andγλύφωglýphō meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French aspétroglyphe.
In scholarly texts, apetroglyph is a rock engraving, whereas apetrograph (orpictograph) 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 orparietal 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.
Composite image of petroglyphs fromScandinavia (Häljesta, Västmanland in Sweden). Nordic Bronze Age. The glyphs have been painted to make them more visible.A petroglyph of a caravan ofbighorn sheep nearMoab, 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 exceptAntarctica, with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia and Siberia, many examples of petroglyphs found globally are dated to approximately theNeolithic and lateUpper 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 ofwriting systems, the existence and creation of petroglyphs began to suffer and tail off, with different forms of art, such aspictographs andideograms, 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 withWestern culture was made in the 19th and 20th centuries.[citation needed]
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 asgeocontourglyphs, more clearly depict or represent a landform or the surrounding terrain, such as rivers and other geographic features.[citation needed]
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 ofproto-writing.[6] Later glyphs from theNordic Bronze Age in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary betweentribes, 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 ofrunes, 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 peoplemigrated 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 aJohn 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 asshamans, in analtered state of consciousness,[9] perhaps induced by the use of naturalhallucinogens. Many of thegeometricpatterns (known asform constants) which recur in petroglyphs andcave 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 theUniversity of the Witwatersrand studies present-day links between religion and rock art among theSan people of theKalahari 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]
Qurta, on the east bank of theNile River in the upper Nile valley, hasNubian Sandstone formations featuring the first and earliest known examples of petroglyphs in the region ofNorth Africa, dating back to 19–15,000 years BP[12][13]
Wadi Hammamat inQift, 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 Egyptianreed boats dated to 4000 BCE
Inscription Rock in SouthSinai, 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 ofGebel el-Silsila. The rock faces have been used for extensive quarrying of materials for temple building especially during the period specified as theNew Kingdom. The Giraffe depictions are located near astela of the kingAmenhotep IV. The images are not dated, but they are probably dated from the Predynastic periods.
Kollur,Villupuram,Tamil Nadu 35 km fromVillupuram inTamil Nadu. A largedolmen with four petroglyphs that portray men withtrident and a wheel with spokes has been found. The discovery was made byK.T. Gandhirajan. This is the second instance when a dolmen with petrographs has been found in Tamil Nadu, India.[24] In October 2018, petroglyphs were discovered in theRatnagiri andRajapur areas in theKonkan region of westernMaharashtra. Those rock carvings which might date back to 10,000 BC, depict animals likehippopotamuses andrhinoceroses which are not found in that region of India.[25] Some carving depicts, what appears to bePisces constellation.[26]
Ratnagiri MaharashtraPetroglyphs, An eight ftlong petroglyph in Devache Gothane village in Rajapur district, Maharashtra.[29]GoddessLajja Gauri who is similarly portrayed, squatting and with legs facing outward.
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.
During recent years a large number of rock carvings has been identified in different parts of Iran. The vast majority depict theibex.[30][31] Rock drawings were found in December 2016 nearGolpayegan,Iran, which may be the oldest drawings discovered, with one cluster possibly 40,000 years old. Accurate estimations were unavailable due to US sanctions.[32]
The oldest pictographs in Iran are seen in Yafteh cave in Lorestan that date back 40,000 and the oldest petroglyph discovered belongs toTimareh 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.[33][31][34]
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 inLapa do Santo, a cave in central-eastern Brazil and dates from 12,000 to 9,000 years ago.[43]
^Wieschhoff, Heinrich Albert (1945).Africa. University of Pennsylvania Press.Most noteworthy among the relics ofAfrica's early periods are the rock-paintings (petrographs) and rock-engravings (petroglyphs) which have been discovered in many parts of the continent.
^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.
^"petrograph".Merriam-Webster. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved26 November 2020.
^Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Random House. 2001. p. 1449.ISBN0-681-31723-X.
^J. Collingwood Bruce (1868; cited in Beckensall, S.,Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained. Pendulum Publications, Rothbury, Northumberland. 1983:19)
^Morris, Ronald (1979)The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and The Isle of Man, Blandford Press,ISBN978-0-7137-0974-2.
^[See: D. Lewis-Williams,A Cosmos in Stone: Interpreting Religion and Society through Rock Art (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2002).]
^Gonzalo de Salazar,"The Chariots of Sahara", Adoranten, Tanum: Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art, 2000.
^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.
^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. Retrieved18 August 2013.
^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).
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
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