Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a
rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or
abrading, as a form of
rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often associated with
prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the
Greek word
petro-, theme of the word "petra" meaning "stone", and
glyphein meaning "to carve", and was originally coined in
French as
pétroglyphe.
