Petroglyphs are carvings that are made in stone, rock paintings are called pictographs. Usually they are crude and old with many of them dating back thousands of years. They seem to date back at least as far as cave drawings. These petroglyphs were created using a stone chisel to chip off the surface of a rock exposing the lighter material underneath. Petroglyphs are representations of our natural world, they are not symbols of words like hieroglyphics. Many of the petroglyphs in the United States were created by indians, but a few came later as the Spanish created some.

There is a park called Petroglyph National Monument. In is located in New Mexico and managed by the National Park Service and the City of Albuquerque. Archaeologists estimate that there are over 25,000 petroglyphs contained in the park. Most of these petroglyphs were believed to have been created by the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. Some petroglyphs were created sometime before 2000 B.C., but the majority are not that ancient. Humans have lived in this area for over 12,000 years.

Here are some of the petroglyphs found in the area, the pictures are all from the National Park Service:

The park also contains much animal life and a volcano. Here are a couple of pictures of rattle snakes:

Here are pictures of the volcano:

All in all this park is a most interesting place and you never know what ancient or relatively new petroglyph you may come across. Remember one thing, it is most important, you are not allowed to remove anything from the park.