Transwiki:Petroglyph
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- For the company that makes computer games, see Petroglyph (game studio).
- For the company, Petroglyph Ceramic Lounge, see contemporary ceramic studio.
Petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially Neolithic, peoples. They were an important form of pre-writing symbols, used in communication from approximately 10,000 B.C.E. to modern times, depending on culture and location. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe). The term 'petroglyph' should not be confused with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face.
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[edit] History
The oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, other writing systems such as pictographs and ideograms began to appear. Petroglyphs were still common though, and some less advanced societies continued using them much longer, even until contact with Western culture was made in the 20th century. Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, Siberia, southwestern North America and Australia.
[edit] Interpretation
These images probably had deep cultural and religious significance for the societies that created them; in many cases this significance remains for their descendants. Many petroglyphs are thought to represent some kind of not-yet-fully understood symbolic or ritual language. Later glyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary between tribes, in addition to possible religious meanings. It also appears that local or regional dialects from similar or neighboring peoples exist. The Siberian inscriptions almost look like some early form of runes, although there is not thought to be any relationship between them. They are not yet well understood.
Some researchers have noticed the resemblance of different styles of petroglyphs across different continents; while it is expected that all people would be inspired by their surroundings, it is harder to explain the common styles. This could be mere coincidence, or an indication that certain groups of people migrated widely from some initial common area. There exists also a group of controversial explanations which are mostly grounded in the jungian psychology and the views of Mircea Eliade. According to these views there exists a possibility, that this resemblance of petroglyphs from different areas and continents is a result of the archetypally conditioned functioning of the human brain. This archetypal functiong would be the result of the genetically inherited brain structure of the human beings.
[edit] The West Virginia controversy
The West Virginia glyphs are worth noting for the controversy that erupted over them in the 1980s. Barry Fell, a retired professor of marine biology at Harvard University, published an article in 1983, describing how he had deciphered petroglyphs in several places in southern West Virginia to have been written in Ogam, an Irish Celtic script dating back to the 6th to 8th century AD, and that they were in fact a detailed description of the nativity of Christ. [1] Fell is noted as promoting a theory of North America as having been visited by Irish, Iberian, Libyan, and Egyptian explorers "some 2,000 to 2,500 years ago".
In fact, Fell's methods involved an almost arbitrary grouping of markings, an interpretation of them as the only consonants of Ogam, and the addition of vowels and horizontal stem lines where he saw fit. This allowed him to decide which of three consonants each glyph should represent. Fell's work was subsequently debunked by linguists and archaeologists from several countries [2], to which Fell responded by accusing them of being "too damn lazy" to read his writings, and of being "ignorant".
Even those who agreed with Fell's interpretation of the marks as being Ogam disagree with his translation. Edo Nyland believed the "inscription" at Horse Creek to be in Basque and translated it very differently, as a description of a bison hunt! For instance, the section which Fell translates as "A happy season is Christmas, a time of joy and goodwill to all people." is given by Nyland (1996) as "Club blows in abundant measure (were needed) because many which had fallen into the ravine resisted with obviously broken legs. Brothers, come and help the slaughterer to finish them off." [3] Any interpretation which leads to such radically different interpretations should be treated with caution. Unfortunately, Fell's dubious Ogam theory has influenced many subsequent interpretations of carvings and paintings all over America.
[edit] List of petroglyph sites
[edit] Asia-Pacific
- Bhimbetka, India
- Dampier, Western Australia
- Arnhem Land / Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia
- Eight sites in Hong Kong: on Tung Lung Island, Kau Sai Chau, Po Toi Island, Cheung Chau, Shek Pik on Lantau Island, Wong Chuk Hang and Big Wave Bay on Hong Kong Island, Lung Ha Wan in Sai Kung
- Chumysh, Kazakhstan, close to Bishkek (capital of neighbouring Kyrgyzstan)
- Several sites in Kyrgyzstan, mostly in the Tien Shan mountains; Cholpon-Ata, the Talas valley, Siymaliytash (Saimaluu-Tash), and on the rock outcrop called Suleiman's Throne in Osh in the Fergana valley
- Angono Petroglyphs of Rizal, Philippines
- Hawaii (particularly the Big Island).
[edit] South America
[edit] North America
- Death Valley National Park, California
- Horsethief Lake State Park, Washington
- Jeffers Petroglyphs, Minnesota
- Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia
- Lava Beds National Monument, Tule Lake, California
- Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument, Utah
- Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Petroglyph National Monument
- Petroglyphs Provincial Park, north of Peterborough, Ontario
- Petroglyph Provincial Park, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada [4]
- Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada
- South Mountain Park, Arizona
- Three Rivers Petroglyphs, New Mexico [5]
- West Virginia glyphs
- Writing Rock State Historical Site, North Dakota
- Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, East of Milk River, Alberta
- Sedona, Arizona
- White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Waddell, Arizona
- St John, USVI
[edit] Europe
- Northumberland, County Durham and North Yorkshire, England
- Rock carvings in Tanumshede. World Heritage`s site, Sweden
- Rock carvings at Alta, Norway
- Rock carvings at Møllerstufossen, Norway
- Rock carvings in Central Norway
- Mercantour National Park, France
- Newgrange, Ireland
- Bagnolo stele, Italy
- Stone stelae of the Ukraine
[edit] Middle East
[edit] See also
- Parietal art
- Cave painting
- History of communication
- History of symbols
- Megalithic art
- Cup and ring mark
- Rune stone
- Stela
[edit] Further reading
- Beckensall, Stan and Laurie, Tim, Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale, County Durham Books, 1998 ISBN 1897585454
- Beckensall, Stan, Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland, Tempus Publishing, 2001 ISBN 0752419455
