Pictograph

Also called a pictogram, figurative drawing or picture representing a word, sound or idea. Earliest form in the evolution of a system of writing. An example is the ancient Egyptian writing called hieroglyphs. This method of communication is still used today by certain civilisations including Chinese, Japanese, and American Indians. It may also refer to a pictorial representation of numerical data or relationships, especially a graph, but having each value represented by a proportional number of pictures.