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 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...

The Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are an archaeological site in Madhya Pradesh, India, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The shelters contain rock paintings spanning from the Paleolithic through historic periods, depicting hunting scenes, dances, and daily life across thousands of years o...

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...

The Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape is a national historical landmark in Azerbaijan, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The reserve preserves over 6,000 petroglyphs carved into rock formations, depicting human figures, animals, and hunting scenes. These engravings provide archa...

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.

Twyfelfontein is an archaeological site located in the Kunene Region of northwestern Namibia. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007, it contains one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs on the African continent. The site features over 2,500 rock engravings created by San hu...

The Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs are an extensive field of ancient rock carvings located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. Recognized as the largest petroglyph site in Hawaii, the field consists of over 23,000 individual images carved into hardened basalt lava flows. The engravings pr...

The Mont Bego Petroglyphs are an extensive collection of prehistoric rock art located in the Mercantour National Park in the French Alps. The site contains approximately 40,000 Bronze Age engravings concentrated around the Mont Bego massif. The carvings depict cattle, weapons, agricultural fields, a...

The Vitlycke Panel is a major Bronze Age rock carving site located in Tanum, Sweden, and part of the Tanum rock carvings UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest and most complex rock art concentrations in the region, featuring detailed depictions of ships, humans, animals, and wheeled c...

The Toro Muerto Petroglyphs are a vast field of pre-Columbian rock art situated in the desert canyon of the Majes River in the Arequipa region of southern Peru. Spanning several square kilometers of volcanic rock, the site features thousands of boulders incised with geometric figures, humans, and an...

Laas Geel is a complex of caves and rock shelters located near Hargeisa in Somaliland, renowned for its well-preserved Neolithic rock art. Discovered by a French archaeological research team in 2002, the vibrant paintings are estimated to date back to around 9,000 BCE. The site features hundreds of...

The Tamgaly Petroglyphs are an ancient cultural landscape and rock art site located in the Anrakai mountains of southeastern Kazakhstan. The sanctuary features a remarkable concentration of over 5,000 distinct petroglyphs, the majority of which were carved during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings de...

Wanjina rock art consists of ancient paintings found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, primarily created by the Ngarinyin, Wunambal, and Worrorra Indigenous peoples. The artworks depict powerful ancestral spirits characterized by large, halo-like headdresses, large round eyes, and the di...

The Shuwaymis petroglyphs are an archaeological site located in the Ha'il region of Saudi Arabia, forming part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hail Rock Art. Dating back to the Neolithic period, these carvings provide significant insight into early human settlement in the Arabian Peninsula. The...

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 is a geographic region in eastern Utah that contains one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric rock art in North America. The canyon features thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs created primarily by the Fremont and Ute cultures. This extensive corridor provides archaeolo...

The Jubbah Petroglyphs are an archaeological site located in the Ha'il Region of Saudi Arabia, recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The site features extensive rock carvings on sandstone formations that depict early human figures and wildlife, such as camels and cattle. Dating...

The Saimaluu-Tash Petroglyphs are a high-altitude rock art site located in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Containing over 90,000 distinct carvings, it represents one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs in Central Asia. The drawings, which span from the Bronze Age through the Iron Ag...

The Naquane National Park is an archaeological area situated in the Valcamonica valley of Lombardy, Italy. It serves as a core component of the UNESCO World Heritage site known for the "Rock Drawings in Valcamonica." The park preserves thousands of petroglyphs created by the Camuni people during the...

The Chaco Canyon Petroglyphs are a collection of rock art located within the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Created by the Ancestral Puebloan people, these engravings are found on cliff faces and boulders throughout the canyon. The site was a major ceremonial, trade, and admin...

Diepkloof Rock Shelter in the Western Cape, South Africa, yielded engraved ostrich eggshell fragments dated to approximately 60,000 years ago, among the earliest known evidence of symbolic human behavior.

The Buckhorn Wash Petroglyph Panel is an archaeological site located in the San Rafael Swell region of Utah. It is recognized as a prominent example of the Barrier Canyon style of rock art, characterized by large, elongated, and intricately detailed anthropomorphic figures. These pictographs were pa...