Archaeology
Rongorongo B-v Aruku-Kurenga (color) edit1

Rongorongo of Easter Island, which may be one of very few independent inventions of writing in human history.

A glyph is a picture or symbol that represents a word, used in some writing systems, such as the one used in ancient Egypt. Maya glyphs, Aztec and Zapotec script of Mesoamerica are also examples. Rongorongo is system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island in the South Pacific that appears to be writing or proto-writing.

Petroglyph[]

Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek prefix petro-, from πέτρα petra meaning "stone", and γλύφω glýphō meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe. Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, following the introduction of a number of precursors of writing systems, the existence and creation of petroglyphs began to suffer and tail off, with different forms of art, such as pictographs and ideograms, taking their place.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics[]

Hieroglyph is a character used in a system of pictorial writing, particularly that form used on ancient Egyptian monuments. Hieroglyphic symbols may represent the objects that they depict but usually stand for particular sounds or groups of sounds. Hieroglyph, meaning “sacred carving,” is a Greek translation of the Egyptian phrase “the god’s words."

Mayan Glyphs[]

Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala.

Aztec and Zapotec Script[]

The Aztec or Nahuatl script is a pre-Columbian writing system that combines ideographic writing with Nahuatl specific phonetic logograms and syllabic signs which was used in central Mexico by the Nahua people. The Aztec writing system derives from writing systems used in Central Mexico, such as Zapotec script. Mixtec writing is also thought to descend from Zapotec.