 Warrior on horseback  A fawn It never ceases to amaze me how interesting Italy is, and how far back its culture goes. In fact, nearly every region has its share of evidence of man in the earliest days of prehistory, such as the images carved into the bald rock face at the Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri (Incised Rocks National Park) in the alpine Valle Camonica, Lombardy. There you will find prehistoric images of hunters and their game, warriors, a primitive chariot, grass huts and other neolithic symbols.  Situated within a beautiful alpine region Valle Camonica was settled by primitive tribes 15,000 years ago, at the end of last Ice Age, after the melting glacier first carved out the valley. It is likely that the first humans visited the valley in epipaleolithic times, and appear to have settled by the Neolithic period. When the Ancient Romans extended their dominions north of the River Po, they encountered a people called the Camunni, of unknown origin, populating the valley. About 300,000 petroglyphs survive from this period.
 Bald outcropping with dozens of images  This was the first Italian archaeological park focusing on the carvings in Valle Camonica, opened in 1955, and is the primary site in a network of similar rock art parks that has grown up since the 1970s in the area. It contains 104 engraved rocks at an altitude of about 1200 feet. The engravings are seen on exposed outcrops of purple-grey colored Permian sandstone (Verrucano Lombardo), smoothed and shaped by ancient glaciers. After the glaciers finished their work polishing and exposing the mountaintop, the prehistoric inhabitants who live in the valley, ions before Christ walked the Earth, took over and decorated them with both illustrative and symbolic images, showing their connection to both the natural and spiritual worlds.  Neolithic Hammerstones Interestingly, most of the engravings were made by striking the rock surface with a hammer-stone, chipping small pieces out as they carved images into the stone's surface. There are also a smaller number of images made by scraping techniques. Most of the Naquane engravings date from the Neolithic (5th millennium BC) to the Iron Age (1st millennium BC). The phenomenon was particularly common during the latter period, when the valley was inhabited by the Camunni, although historical-era engravings, Roman and modern, are also present. The road leading to the park passes by additional rock carving sites of Dos de l’Arca and Le Sante, finds from which may be seen in the Capo di Ponte museum (MUPRE). As illustrated in the photos below, I'm amazed at how accurate some of the drawings are when compared to their real world counterparts...
Parco di Seradina-Bedolina The Municipal Archaeological Park of Seradina-Bedolina was set up in 2005 and, located on the right bank of the river Oglio, collects inside its rocks primarily engraved with the Bronze Age (2000 BC) and the Iron Age (1000 BC ). Il Parco Archeologico Nazionale dei Massi di Cemmo In the small valley of Pian delle Greppe, not far from the hamlet of Capo di Ponte, rises the National Archaeological Park of the Cassie Massi, an archaeological area of great importance in the history of the studios of Camuna peoples rock art. There are hundreds of carvings in this park, some dated back to the ninth millennium BC. Parco di Interesse Sovracomunale del Lago Moro Luine e Monticolo The archaeological site of Luine boasts purple colored stone outcrops with engravings dating to the Mesolithic period, along with stone huts and dry stone structures used by one or more prehistoric communities to conduct collective ceremonies. Il Parco Archeologico di Asinino-Anvòia The Asinino-Anvòia Archaeological Park is located in the heart of the Ossimo-Borno plateau. The site is characterized by standing stone alignments from the Copper Age (3rd Milennium BC). Riserva Naturale Incisioni Rupestri di Ceto, Cimbergo e Paspardo The Reserve is the largest protected archaeological area of Camonica Valley, extending over 750 acres spanning the three municipalities of Ceto (with Nadro village), Cimbergo and Paspardo. The engraved rocks, some as old as the 5th millennium BC, are nestled in a natural mid-mountainous environment alternating at places with man-made structures. You can spend hours to days exploring this area. --Jerry Finzi
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