Guide To Art History

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Introduction to Ancient Petroglyph Art By ArtHistory.net

A form of rock art, ancient petroglyphs represent images or pictograms created bycarving, picking, or engraving in some fashion on rock. Unlike petrographs which havebeen painted or drawn, petroglyphs depict carved surfaces of rock faces or boulders.Petroglyph sites have been found around the world and are revered as part of theirregion's cultural heritage­­even though that culture might stretch back more than twentythousand years ago.

The earliest petroglyphs may be as old as 40,000 years. Many petroglyphs date to theNeolithic period. Archaeologists have asserted that some petroglyphs in Australia maybe as old as 27,000 years­old. Except for Antarctica, every continent is home to thisform of rock art. Some places like Africa, Australia, and the North American Southwestare noted for their multitude of petroglyph sites. Archaeologists and historians interpretthese rock art forms in various ways that denote religious or cultural significance.Scholars spend considerable time continuing to study and compare the rock art of theseancient peoples.

The world boasts many important petroglyph sites or sites regarded with great culturalsignificance. Egypt's Wadi Hammamat, for instance, boasts carvings that harken back tothe earliest days of the region's dynasties. The region of Gebel el Silsila boasts ancientgiraffe petroglyphs that are likely to predate the dynastic period. Kazakhstan's Tamgalysite is known for its Bronze Age petroglyphs that feature carvings of animals and others;the site has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other well known sitesinclude the Puye Cliff Dwellings of New Mexico, the Red Rock Canyon NationalConservation Area of Nevada, Arches National Park of Utah, Samalayuka of Mexico,Serra da Capivara National Park of Brazil (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Ladakh ofIndia, Ughtasar of Armenia, Dabous Rock of Niger, Hikoshima Island of Japan, andmany others.

Animals feature in many of the petroglyphs as do hunters and other people performingoccupations. Other petroglyphs denote symbols such as suns or figures in strangepositions like an upside down man or kokopelli. There are petroglyphs for naturalelements and some that continue to be puzzles to scholars trying to understand them.This ancient type of rock art continues to be of great significance for many regions as itattracts many tourists and researchers to the sites. Protecting these sites is of nationalimportance to many countries that contain them. What continues to puzzle scholars is

exactly how many petroglyph examples resemble other petroglyphs of sites that arehalfway around the world.

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