Petroforms, also known as boulder outlines or boulder mosaics, are human-made shapes and patterns made by lining up large rocks on the open ground, often on quite level areas. Petroforms in North America were originally made by Indigenous Peoples, who used various terms to describe them. Petroforms can also include a rock
cairn or
inukshuk, an upright
monolith slab, a
medicine wheel, a
fire pit, a desert kite, sculpted boulders, or simply rocks lined up or stacked for various reasons. Old World petroforms include the
Carnac stones and many other megalithic monuments.