Archive for Iron Age

The Great Rock of the Aquane (book review)

March 31, 2026 Academics, Alpine rock art - Arte rupestre alpina, books – journals – reviews, Iron Age, Valcamonica - Valtellina No comments

Review of Andrea Arcà’s new book La Grande Roccia delle Aquane, Valcamonica archeo-rupestre (The Great Rock of Aquane, rupestrian and archaeological Valcamonica), a substantial and detailed study of the most important engraved rock in the Naquane Rock Art National Park (Valcamonica – I), published by the CCSP-Camunnian Centre for Prehistoric Studies. 521 pages, over 1,000 illustrations, all in colour. The book returns a rock-art “monument” in a form that can be consulted and checked, integrates print and online browsing (www.europreart.net/NAQ1), it shows the method, not only the results, it offers bold but argued interpretations (looms/Aquane); recommended for enthusiasts of rock art and Valcamonica; students and heritage professionals; anyone interested in the archaeology of images, symbolism, and documentation methods (photography/3D/GIS/data) (PDF available).

by Oriana Bozzarelli – Turin University Read more

L’Antece degli Alburni, condottiero o divinità?

December 16, 2020 Academics, Appennino, Featured, Iron Age, Mediterranean No comments

L’Antéce

A 1125 m di quota, sulla sommità di Costa Palomba, monti Alburni e Parco Nazionale del Cilento, un non comune monumento rupestre domina un ampio panorama a 360°, che spazia dall’entroterra al mare, sino all’isola di Capri nelle giornate più limpide. Si tratta dell’Antéce, secondo alcuni “l’Antico”, un altorilievo rupestre ricavato da un lastrone naturale, un aguzzo spunzone calcareo. La figura umana, a grandezza naturale, impugna con la destra una lancia, o un’insegna, alla quale è poggiato uno scudo rotondo a profilo leggermente spiovente dotato di umbone fusiforme; nell’altra mano impugna un oggetto allungato, eroso e lacunoso, che può fare ipotizzare la presenza di una folgore o di un fascio di folgori (PDF disponibile).

di Andrea ARCÀ, Oriana BOZZARELLI Read more

Les cavaliers dans l’art rupestre. Le cas du Maroc

October 18, 2020 Academics, Bronze Age, Featured, Iron Age, Morocco, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.46 No comments

Foum Chenna, Maroc

Dans tous les pays du Maghreb et du Sahara, en plein air ou sous abri, on peut rencontrer une petite figure, gravée ou peinte, connue dans la littérature spécialisée ou de divulgation sous l’appellation de cavalier “libyco-berbère”. Puisque cette image est très répandue, il semble qu’elle n’ait pas de secret et que du cavalier tout soit connu : son armement, le harnais de sa monture, jusqu’à son rôle dans la société de l’époque. Rien de plus faux. Au Maroc, nous pouvons observer combien le monde des cavaliers était diversifié en visitant les deux gisements principaux : le site de Foum Chenna dans la vallée du Draa (Maroc méridional) et le plateau aux pieds du Jebel Rat, dans le Haut Atlas central, le premier abritant 2550 gravures, le deuxième 1800 dont 800 appartiennent à la phase des cavaliers (pdf disponible).
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par Alessandra BRAVIN Read more

Naquane, Valcamonica, the Great Rock

October 9, 2020 Academics, Featured, Iron Age, Methods - metodi, research history, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.46, Valcamonica - Valtellina 2 comments

NAQ1 deer figure

(October 9, 2020, European Day of Rock Art). With its 104 engraved rocks, the National Rock Art Park of Naquane is the main archaeological site of Valcamonica and one of the most important European rock art sites. The best-known rock is the n. 1, called the Great Rock for its size; more than two thousand figures have been engraved over its surface: deer hunting scenes, acrobatic riders, sword duels, women with hands up, wooden barns, ducks, geese and chickens, the mysterious palettes … a virtual tour allow to discover it, to enjoy the panorama, to fly over its engraved figures looking at ultra high-res pictures, tracings and 3D models (PDF available).

by Andrea ARCÀ Read more

Naquane, Valcamonica, la Grande Roccia

October 9, 2020 Academics, Featured, Iron Age, Methods - metodi, research history, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.46, Valcamonica - Valtellina No comments

NAQ1, settore P

(9 ottobre 2020, Giornata Europea dell’Arte Rupestre). Con le sue 104 rocce incise, il Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri di Naquane costituisce il principale sito archeologico della Valcamonica e uno dei più importanti complessi europei di arte rupestre. La roccia più conosciuta è la n. 1, nota anche come Grande Roccia per le sue dimensioni; sulla sua superficie sono state incise più di 2mila figure: scene di caccia al cervo, di cavalcatura acrobatica, duelli alla spada, donne a braccia levate, granai di legno, oche, papere e galline, le misteriose palette …  un tour virtuale permette di scoprirla, di godere della vista del panorama, di sorvolare le sue figure incise osservando  riprese fotografiche, rilievi iconografici e modelli 3D ad altissima risoluzione (PDF disponibile).

di Andrea ARCÀ Read more

Naquane, festa dei musei

May 20, 2017 Alpine rock art - Arte rupestre alpina, Iron Age, News - announcements - notizie, Talks - lectures - conferenze, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.41, Valcamonica - Valtellina No comments

NAQ1

Sabato 20 maggio 2017 alle ore 15 presso il parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri di Naquane a Capo di Ponte (BS) Navigando sulla grande Roccia, presentazione del tour virtuale della Roccia 1 del Parco di Naquane; dalle 20 alle 23 apertura straordinaria del parco con visita notturna delle rocce incise


by TRACCE editor

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Usseglio, Alpine cults, archaeology and rock art

October 30, 2015 Footprints, Iron Age, Landscape, Roman, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.37, Western Alps No comments
Ròch dij Gieugh

Ròch dij Gieugh

[Usseglio: culti in ambiente alpino, archeologia e arte rupestre]. A new exhibition room dedicated to the cults of the Alps has recently enriched the Civic Alpine Museum Arnaldo Tazzetti of Usseglio. A part of the room is devoted to the monumental Ròch dij Gieugh, an engraved stone situated on the slopes of the Usseglio mountains. The interest in this rock is given by the great number of shoeprints connected to a complex network of cup-marks and grooves. New important discoveries emerged during the recent tracing: three figures of Iron Age warriors and a possible votive inscription to Juppiter, the first found in the Alps on a cup-marked rock [ENG-ITA].

by Andrea ARCÀ and Angelo Eugenio FOSSATI Read more

Seradina 12, Valcamonica, 83 years of research

October 27, 2015 Iron Age, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.37, Valcamonica - Valtellina No comments
Seradina R12 deer

Seradina R12 deer

Covering more than 200 square metres, Rock 12 is the largest engraved rock of the Seradina area; it is included in the Seradina-Bedolina Archaeological Municipal Park. Its beautiful and richly engraved surface has been known since the first discovery of the greatest part of the Valcamonica rock art (1932). In the 1980s the rock was traced and studied under the direction of Mila Simões de Abreu, during which time the tracing was completed. Seradina 12 hosts some very rare iconographic items; among them, we can notice six Iron Age horse-driven ploughing scenes. Two of them are accompanied by sexual scenes, the action meaningfully performed while the ground is being hoed.

by M.Simões de ABREU and A.E. FOSSATI

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Footprints in the Alps – pediformi nelle Alpi

August 20, 2015 Alpine rock art - Arte rupestre alpina, Footprints, Iron Age, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.37 One comment
Pisselerand

Pisselerand

Footprints in the Alpine rock art: diffusion, chronology and interpretation. Abstract and slides of the communication presented on Tuesday 1 September 2015 at the IFRAO 2015 – XIX International Rock Art Conference (Cáceres, Spain). The communication provides a detailed description of the most important cases of alpine rocks bearing footprints, a chronological frame for the corresponding engraving phases, and a discussion about suggested interpretations.
Le impronte di piede nell’arte rupestre Alpina: diffusione, cronologia e interpretazione (abstract in Italiano)

by Andrea Arcà

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