From the core to the periphery: notes on recent research in western rock art areas of Central Valcamonica

• Published in: Adoranten pp. 85 - 102
• Main Author: Marretta, Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tanumshede Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Archaeology; Bronze Age; Cultural heritage; Excavation; Iron Age; Neolithic; Petroglyphs; Valleys; Lombardy Italy; Italy
• ISSN: 0349-8808; 0349-8808

In the last decade, extensive research in various areas of the central Valcamonica (Capo di Ponte, Nadro di Ceto and Paspardo) has brought to light an immense treasure of rock art (Cittadini 2017; Marretta 2018; Medici & Gavaldo 2019; Rondini & Marretta 2021). Systematic fieldwork, focused here only on the western sites, is reaching an important milestone in the Seradina and Bedolina areas, two important parts of Unesco Site No. 94, where full documentation and analysis of all identified carved panels is rapidly becoming a reality. At the same time, new discoveries of rock carvings not only within the main sites, but also in neighbouring and still little explored areas, significantly increase the density and territorial extent of the carved panels made here in prehistoric times and, as we shall see, contribute to the clarification of old or still unsolved problems. Finally, the now solid data on the distribution of motifs increasingly support the recent hypothesis that certain features of rock art in the western and eastern areas reflect a highly localized phenomenon that remains to be explained in terms of causes and evolution (Sansoni 2016).Although the relationship between rock art and other evidence of human presence in the territory—such as settlements, cult sites or necropolises—is still weak, new interesting data are also coming from this fundamental area.