GuideToArtHistory

FamousArtistsArtStylesandPeriodsArtMediumsAncientArt

IntroductiontoAncientPictographArtByArtHistory.net

Apictographorpictogramasitmaybetermedisoftendeemedanartformbutitcanalso,dependingonthenatureofthepaintedordrawnimage,beregardedasaformofwriting.Intermsofancientuse,pictographsareassociatedwithcuneiformandalsohieroglyphics.Eventoday,nonliterateculturesmaystillfavortheuseofpictographs.PictographscanbefoundinmostregionsoftheworldanddatetotheprehistoricperiodasfarbackasthePaleolithicage.Aformofrockart,ancientpictographstypicallyadornedrockandsometimesclaysurfaces.

Archeologiststendtospeakofpictographsassymbols.Theyspendyearsandsomeevenentirecareerstryingtodefineanddecipherthemeaningsofeachpictographorpictographsystem.Asideasexpressedthroughpaintingorillustration,apictographcantellhistoriansquitealotaboutancientculturesparticularlywhentheycanbesuccessfullydecipheredanddecipheredinaccordancewithotherrelicsfromthesamecultureandera.Often,however,thesepictographsmaynotbeclearlyunderstoodleadingscholarsorthetouristswhovisitthemtosimplytheorizeorguesswhattheirexactnaturemaybe.

Asaformofrockart,pictographscanbefoundinmanynationssomecontainmorethanothersandsomeextensivefindingshaveevenbeendeemedUNESCOWorldHeritageSites.Thesesitesdrawvisitorsfromallovertheworldastheyreflectpartofthehostnationorregion'shistoricalheritage.Somehistoricallyfamouspictographsdatebackto3000B.C.toEgyptandtheMesopotamianregion.TheancientSumeriansdevelopedthefirstwrittenlanguagedevelopedfrompictographscalledcuneiform.PictographswerealsowidelyusedinAsiaincountrieslikeChinaandIndiaarecentareaofMongoliacontainingpictographswasrecentlydesignatedasaUNESCOWorldHeritageSitein2011.

ManyworldregionsarecelebratedfortheirpictographsOceania,Europe,andevenpartsoftheAmericas,forinstance.SomefamouspictographsitesincludeLakeSuperiorProvincialPark,HorseshoeCanyon(Utah),Valcomonica(Italy),LaasGaal(Somalia),BrandbergMountain(Namibia),WesternCape(SouthAfrica),NajTunich(Guatemala),Nyerorockpaintings(Uganda),PictographCave(Montana),BhimbetkaRockShelters(India),ZarautsoyRockPaintings(Uzbekistan),andMountGrenfellHistoricSite(Australia).Thesymbolsdesignatedaspictographsrangesubstantiallyfromlinesandswirlstopeopleandanimals.Pictographsfromtheancientperiodcontinuedtobea

serioussubjectofstudyforpeoplearoundtheworld.Pictographandotherrockartsitesarealsopopulartouristattractionsfortheregionsthatcontainthem.

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