# Petroglyph

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Images carved on a rock surface as a form of rock art

"Rock carving" redirects here. For other uses, see [Petroglyph (disambiguation)](/source/Petroglyph_(disambiguation)), [Rock art](/source/Rock_art), and [Stone carving](/source/Stone_carving).

Rock art in [Iran](/source/Iran), [Teimareh](/source/Teimareh) region

Rock carving known as *Meerkatze* (named by archaeologist [Leo Frobenius](/source/Leo_Frobenius)), rampant lionesses in [Wadi Mathendous](/source/Wadi_Mathendous), Mesak Settafet region of Libya.

European petroglyphs: *Laxe dos carballos* in [Campo Lameiro](/source/Campo_Lameiro), [Galicia](/source/Galicia_(Spain)), Spain (4th–2nd millennium BCE), depicting [cup and ring marks](/source/Cup_and_ring_mark) and deer hunting scenes

Petroglyph of a camel, [Negev](/source/Negev), southern Israel

Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of [Las Labradas](/source/Las_Labradas_(Sinaloa)), situated on the coast of the [municipality of San Ignacio](/source/San_Ignacio_Municipality%2C_Sinaloa), [Sinaloa](/source/Sinaloa), Mexico

A **petroglyph** is an image created by removing part of a [rock](/source/Rock_(geology)) surface by incising, picking, carving, or [abrading](/source/Abrasion_(geology)), as a form of [rock art](/source/Rock_art). The term generally refers to **rock engravings** of ancient origin, often associated with [prehistoric](/source/Prehistory) peoples. The oldest petroglyphs in the world are deemed to be those at [Murujuga](/source/Murujuga) in [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia), which are 40,000–50,000 years old. Some petroglyphs are classified as protected monuments and some have been added to the list of [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO)'s [World Heritage Sites](/source/World_Heritage_Sites), or such status has been applied for.

## Etymology and meaning

The word *petroglyph* comes from the [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language) prefix *[petro-](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/petro-)*, from πέτρα *petra* meaning "[stone](/source/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](/source/Petrograph)* (or *pictograph*) is a rock painting.[1][2] In common usage, the words are sometimes used interchangeably.[3][4]

Petroglyphs and petrographs both belong to the wider and more general category of rock art or [parietal art](/source/Parietal_art). [Petroforms](/source/Petroforms), or patterns and shapes made by many large rocks and boulders over the ground, are quite different. [Inuksuk](/source/Inuksuk) are not petroglyphs, but human-made rock forms found in Arctic regions.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## History

Composite image of petroglyphs from [Scandinavia](/source/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](/source/Bighorn_sheep) near [Moab, Utah](/source/Moab%2C_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](/source/Antarctica), with the highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, and Siberia. Many examples of petroglyphs found globally are dated to approximately the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) and late [Upper Paleolithic](/source/Upper_Paleolithic) boundary (roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

The oldest petrogryphs are those in [Murujuga](/source/Murujuga), Western Australia, some of which are estimated to be 40,000–50,000 years old.[5][6][7] The Murujuga site was declared a [World Heritage Site](/source/World_Heritage_Site) in July 2025.[8][9]

Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, following the introduction of a number of precursors of [writing systems](/source/Writing_system), the existence and creation of petroglyphs began to suffer and tail off, with different forms of art, such as [pictographs](/source/Pictograph) and [ideograms](/source/Ideogram), 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](/source/Western_culture) was made in the 19th and 20th centuries.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geocontourglyph&action=edit&redlink=1), more clearly depict or represent a landform or the surrounding terrain, such as rivers and other geographic features.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Some petroglyph maps, which depict trails as well as contain 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](/source/Rock_gong)".[10]

Some petroglyphs likely formed types of symbolic communication, such as types of [proto-writing](/source/Proto-writing).[11] Later glyphs from the [Nordic Bronze Age](/source/Nordic_Bronze_Age) in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary between [tribes](/source/Tribe), 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siberian_inscriptions&action=edit&redlink=1) loosely resemble an early form of [runes](/source/Runic_alphabet), although no direct relationship has been established.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

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](/source/Human_migration) widely from some initial common area, or indication of a common origin. In 1853, [George Tate](/source/George_Tate_(topographer)) presented a paper to the Berwick Naturalists' Club, at which a [John Collingwood Bruce](/source/John_Collingwood_Bruce) agreed that the carvings had "... a common origin, and indicate a symbolic meaning, representing some popular thought."[12] In his cataloguing of Scottish rock art, Ronald Morris summarized 104 different theories on their interpretation.[13]

Other theories suggest that petroglyphs were carved by spiritual leaders, such as [shamans](/source/Shaman), in an [altered state of consciousness](/source/Altered_state_of_consciousness),[14] perhaps induced by the use of natural [hallucinogens](/source/Psychedelics%2C_dissociatives_and_deliriants#Hallucinogenic_plants,_fungi,_and_animals). Many of the [geometric](/source/Geometry) [patterns](/source/Pattern) (known as [form constants](/source/Form_constant)) which recur in petroglyphs and [cave paintings](/source/Cave_paintings) have been shown by [David Lewis-Williams](/source/David_Lewis-Williams) to be hardwired into the human brain. They frequently occur in visual disturbances and hallucinations brought on by drugs, [migraine](/source/Migraine), and other stimuli.

The Rock Art Research Institute of the [University of the Witwatersrand](/source/University_of_the_Witwatersrand) studies present-day links between religion and rock art among the [San people](/source/San_people) of the [Kalahari Desert](/source/Kalahari_Desert).[15] Though the San people's artworks are predominantly paintings, the beliefs behind them can possibly be used as a basis for understanding other types of rock art, including petroglyphs.[16]

## Notable petroglyph sites

Main article: [List of petroglyph sites](/source/List_of_petroglyph_sites)

## See also

- [Geoglyph](/source/Geoglyph)

- [History of communication](/source/History_of_communication)

- [List of Stone Age art](/source/List_of_Stone_Age_art)

- [Megalithic art](/source/Megalithic_art)

- [Pecked curvilinear nucleated](/source/Pecked_curvilinear_nucleated)

- [Petrosomatoglyph](/source/Petrosomatoglyph)

- [Runestone](/source/Runestone) and [image stone](/source/Image_stone)

- [Water glyphs](/source/Water_glyphs)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Wieschhoff, Heinrich Albert (1945). *Africa*. University of Pennsylvania Press. Most noteworthy among the relics of [Africa](/source/Africa)'s early periods are the rock-paintings (petrographs) and rock-engravings (petroglyphs) which have been discovered in many parts of the continent.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["petrograph"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petrograph). *Merriam-Webster*. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language*. Random House. 2001. p. 1449. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-681-31723-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-681-31723-X).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Normile, Dennis (12 May 2023). ["World's largest collection of ancient rock art threatened by Australia's petrochemical plants"](https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-largest-collection-ancient-rock-art-threatened-australia-s-petrochemical-plants). *[Science](/source/Science_(journal))*. Retrieved 13 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wahlquist2020_6-0)** Wahlquist, Calla (29 January 2020). ["Australia lodges world heritage submission for 50,000-year-old Burrup Peninsula rock art"](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/29/australia-lodges-world-heritage-submission-for-50000-year-old-burrup-peninsula-rock-art). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 7 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bednarik2010_7-0)** Bednarik, Robert G. (14 March 2010). ["Pleistocene Rock Art in Australia"](https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0257-9774-2010-1-3/pleistocene-rock-art-in-australia-jahrgang-105-2010-heft-1?page=1). *Anthropos*. **105** (1): 3–12. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5771/0257-9774-2010-1-3](https://doi.org/10.5771%2F0257-9774-2010-1-3). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0257-9774](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0257-9774).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-rollason2025_8-0)** Rollason, Bridget (11 July 2025). ["UNESCO approves world heritage listing for WA's Murujuga rock art"](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-12/paris-unesco-world-heritage-ruling-on-murjuga-rock-art-wa/105522888). *[ABC News (Australia)](/source/ABC_News_(Australia))*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-readfearn2025_9-0)** Readfearn, Graham (11 July 2025). ["'Manifestation of creative genius': Murujuga rock art in Western Australia placed on Unesco world heritage list"](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/11/wa-murujuga-rock-art-placed-on-unesco-world-heritage-list). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 13 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Ancient Indians made 'rock music'](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3520384.stm). BBC News (2004-03-19). Retrieved on 2013-02-12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Houston, Stephen D. (1 October 2004). ["The Archaeology of Communication Technologies"](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724). *Annual Review of Anthropology*. **33** (1): 223–250. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724](https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.anthro.33.070203.143724). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0084-6570](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0084-6570).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** J. Collingwood Bruce (1868; cited in Beckensall, S., *Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained*. Pendulum Publications, Rothbury, Northumberland. 1983:19)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Morris, Ronald (1979) *The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and The Isle of Man*, Blandford Press, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7137-0974-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7137-0974-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** D. Lewis-Williams, *A Cosmos in Stone: Interpreting Religion and Society through Rock Art* (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2002).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Welcome to the new Rock Art Research Institute website"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130501204304/http://www.wits.ac.za/rockart/). *Rock Art Research Institute*. [University of the Witwatersrand](/source/University_of_the_Witwatersrand). Archived from [the original](http://www.wits.ac.za/rockart/) on 1 May 2013. .

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Rock Art Research Institute (RARI)"](https://www.wits.ac.za/rockart/). *University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg*. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

## Further reading

- Beckensall, Stan and Laurie, Tim, *Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale*, County Durham Books, 1998 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-897585-45-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-897585-45-4)

- Beckensall, Stan, *Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland*, Tempus Publishing, 2001 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7524-1945-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7524-1945-5)

- Harmanşah, Ömür (ed) (2014), *Of Rocks and Water: An Archaeology of Place*, 2014, Oxbow Books, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-78297-674-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-78297-674-4), 9781782976745

- [Rawson, Jessica](/source/Jessica_Rawson) (ed). *The British Museum Book of Chinese Art*, 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7141-2446-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7141-2446-9)

- [Sickman, Laurence](/source/Laurence_Sickman), 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Petroglyphs](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Petroglyphs).

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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Petroglyph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.