Best Petroglyph

The Tassili n'Ajjer petroglyphs are ancient rock carvings found in southeastern Algeria. These sandstone panels display a remarkable record of human activity from Neolithic times through to historic periods, representing some of the oldest known artistic expression in North Africa. The site’s extens...

The Côa Valley petroglyphs represent a remarkable collection of prehistoric images etched into sandstone boulders. Located in northeastern Portugal, this UNESCO World Heritage Site features an exceptionally high density of Paleolithic rock art dating back over 40,000 years. These open-air carvings p...

The Valcamonica Archaeological Park preserves an exceptional collection of prehistoric rock art in northern Italy. These petroglyphs, etched into limestone cliffs by Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples, represent one of Europe’s largest known concentrations of ancient engravings. Dating back approximate...

The Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) is a significant archaeological site located in Patagonia, Argentina. It contains an exceptional collection of petroglyphs – hand stencils painted on cave walls dating back nearly 11,000 years. These images depict animals and human figures, offering invaluable...

The Serra da Capivara complex showcases extensive prehistoric petroglyphs carved into sandstone cliffs within Piauí, Brazil. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, these artworks represent some of the earliest known examples of human artistic expression in the Americas. Dating back potentially ove...

Horshoe Canyon’s Great Gallery showcases extensive petroglyphs carved into sandstone walls within Utah's canyonlands. These ancient rock art panels, created between roughly 2000 BCE and 1000 CE, depict human and animal figures offering insight into the beliefs and practices of ancestral Puebloan peo...

The Maros-Pangkep rock art consists of petroglyphs found within limestone caves on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. These images, primarily hand stencils, are exceptionally significant as some date back at least 39,900 years, representing some of the earliest known figurative artwork globally. The sites...

The Tanum Rock Carvings represent a significant archaeological find in Bohuslän, Sweden. These petroglyphs, dating from approximately 1700 to 500 BCE, constitute one of Europe's most concentrated collections of Bronze Age rock art. They provide valuable insight into the beliefs and practices of com...

The Coso Rock Art District preserves a remarkable collection of prehistoric petroglyphs carved into volcanic rock in California’s Great Basin. This site boasts an estimated 100,000 figures created by the Great Basin people between approximately 8,000 and 2,000 years ago. Researchers and archaeologis...

Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh, India, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, contain rock art spanning over 30,000 years of continuous human occupation.

UNESCO World Heritage Site in Finnmark, Norway, containing rock carvings created between approximately 4200 and 500 BCE by Stone and Bronze Age Arctic peoples.

The White Shaman Mural is a complex petroglyph and pictograph located within the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas. Created by Indigenous peoples associated with the Pecos River culture, it’s notable for its intricate blending of styles – including the distinctive Pecos River motif – and represents o...

Rock art reserve in Azerbaijan inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, containing over 6,000 petroglyphs spanning roughly 40,000 years of human activity.

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, holds the largest concentration of rock art on the North American Great Plains, with thousands of Blackfoot petroglyphs and pictographs in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

UNESCO World Heritage Site in Namibia (designated 2007) containing over 2,500 rock engravings, one of Africa's largest concentrations, made by San hunter-gatherers.

Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash) in the Ural Mountains, Russia, contains Upper Paleolithic paintings dating to c. 17,000 BCE, including mammoths and horses.

Largest petroglyph field in Hawaii, located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, with over 23,000 images including numerous piko birth record carvings.

Prehistoric rock art site near the French-Italian border above Nice, containing around 40,000 Bronze Age engravings concentrated in the Mont Bego massif.

One of the largest and most elaborate Bronze Age rock art panels at Tanum, Sweden, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and depicting ships, humans, and animals.

One of the world's largest petroglyph fields, in the Arequipa region of Peru, covering several square kilometers with thousands of pre-Columbian carved images.

Cave paintings near Hargeisa, Somaliland, discovered by a French archaeological team in 2002 and dated to roughly 9,000 BCE, among the best-preserved Neolithic rock art in Africa.

Wadi Sura petroglyphs near Gilf Kebir, Egypt, known as the Cave of Beasts, contain over 5,000 images including enigmatic headless human figures dating to c. 8000 BCE.

Bronze Age sanctuary in Kazakhstan with over 5,000 petroglyphs, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 for its exceptional concentration of ancient rock imagery.

Wandjina rock art in the Kimberley, Western Australia, depicts spirit beings with large round eyes and no mouths, held sacred by the Ngarinyin, Wunambal, and Worora peoples.

Saudi Arabian petroglyph site in Ha'il, part of the UNESCO-listed Hail Rock Art (2015), notable for some of the world's earliest known depictions of dogs on leashes.

Peterborough Petroglyphs Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, contains the largest known concentration of Indigenous rock carvings in Canada, with over 900 figures in crystalline limestone sacred to the Anishinaabe.

Nine Mile Canyon in Utah contains one of the world's highest concentrations of rock art, with thousands of Fremont and Ute images spanning a 40-mile canyon corridor.

Ennedi Massif petroglyphs in northeastern Chad, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, contain thousands of rock paintings and engravings spanning several millennia.

Petroglyph site in Saudi Arabia's Ha'il Region, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Rock Art in the Hail Region (2015), featuring Neolithic depictions of wildlife and humans.