pictography
Images as language
Pictography is a system of writing or communication that uses pictures or symbols to represent ideas, objects, or events rather than sounds or words.
Ancient cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphics are forms of pictography.
The term also applies to modern pictographic systems like international signage: The airport uses pictography so travelers of any language can find restrooms and exits.
Carvings on natural stone
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- ideogramsSymbols representing ideas directly
oracle bones · cave walls · rock art · artifacts · archaeology · anthropology · tribal · totems
Symbol representing concept directly
- glyphVisual form of character
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- signMark conveying information
logogram · emoticon · emoji · avatar · iconography · motif · representation · stylized
Ancient Egyptian picture-writing
- cartoucheOval framing royal hieroglyphs
- pharaohsAncient Egypt's supreme rulers
- RosettaTrilingual Egyptian artifact
- papyrusAncient plant-derived writing material
ankh · scarab · obelisk · pyramids · Nile · carvings · Anubis · Horus
Written words for performance
- notationSystem of written symbols
- logographicUsing word-symbols, not letters
- syllabaryWriting using sound-units
- codexAncient bound manuscript
inscription · grapheme · transcription · orthography · calligraphy · manuscript · proto-writing · Aztec
Paleolithic painted cavern
- AltamiraSpanish cave with paintings
- PaleolithicEarliest archaeological era
- bisonLarge wild ox
- horsesLarge domesticated hoofed mammals
mammoths · hunters · ochre · charcoal · handprints · rock shelters · torchlight · pigments
petroglyphs
Carvings on natural stone
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
ideograms · oracle bones · cave walls · rock art · artifacts · archaeology · anthropology · tribal · totems · ancestors
ideogram
Symbol representing concept directly
sign · logogram · emoticon · emoji · avatar · iconography · motif · representation · stylized · visual language
hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian picture-writing
- cartoucheOval framing royal hieroglyphs
- pharaohsAncient Egypt's supreme rulers
- RosettaTrilingual Egyptian artifact
papyrus · ankh · scarab · obelisk · pyramids · Nile · carvings · Anubis · Horus · Isis
script
Written words for performance
- notationSystem of written symbols
- logographicUsing word-symbols, not letters
- syllabaryWriting using sound-units
codex · inscription · grapheme · transcription · orthography · calligraphy · manuscript · proto-writing · Aztec · Mayan glyphs
Lascaux
Paleolithic painted cavern
- AltamiraSpanish cave with paintings
- PaleolithicEarliest archaeological era
- bisonLarge wild ox
horses · mammoths · hunters · ochre · charcoal · handprints · rock shelters · torchlight · pigments · prehistoric
pictographyphonography
Sound-based writing system
phonetic spelling · alphabet · syllabary · Latin alphabet · Cyrillic alphabet
pictographycuneiform
Stylus-impressed ancient script
mathematical notation · binary code · shorthand · Morse code