TRACCEPhotogallery Archives

Archive for Photogallery

L’arte rupestre di Böyük Daş in Gobustan, Azerbaijan

November 23, 2016 Europe, Featured, Landscape, Palaeolithic, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull.40 No comments

Böyük Daş

The Böyük Daş mountain is one of the three promontories included in the Natural Historical Artistic Reserve of Gobustan. With its terraced profile and big boulders scattered around the different terraces, it preserves thousands of engravings with a very long chronology. Its rock art includes several figurative categories: zoomorph, anthropomorph, boat, symbol. Here is presented a brief guide to visit the Böyük Daş hill, in Gobustan Rock Art Reserve.

Il monte di Böyük Daş è uno dei tre promontori inclusi nella Riserva Naturale Storico-Artistica di Gobustan, Con il uso profilo terrazzato e una serie di grossi massi sparsi lungo le sue terrazze, conserva migliaia di figure incise di cronologia molto ampia e appartenenti a varie categorie figurative: zoomorfi, antropomorfi, imbarcazioni, simboli. Ecco una breve guida per visitare l’area di Böyük Daş, all’interno della Riserva di Arte Rupestre di Gobustan.

by Dario SIGARI [i]

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

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

Phaistos, Crete, cup-marks and other signs

May 5, 2015 Academics, Bronze Age, Cup marks - coppelle, Featured, Photogallery, research history No comments

Phaistos, spiral

Rock art enthusiasts and researchers will be pleasantly surprised while discovering the moderate but diffused presence of Minoan Palaces “rock art”; two main categories are present: mason’s marks and cup-marks – so-called kernoi – all these engraved upon the ashlars limestone blocks of the Minoan Palaces, mainly in the first centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. Some interpretation problems arise, concerning the sacred or practical character of the marks and the use of the kernoi as offering tables or as popular or childish board games. A great concentration of such items may be found at the Phaistos Palace...

by Andrea Arcà

Phaistos Palace, mason’s marks photogallery

May 3, 2015 Bronze Age, Mediterranean, Photogallery No comments

Phaistos, Crete

More than 220 mason’s marks are reported at Phaistos by Luigi Pernier in 1935, mostly connected to the First Palace. Some characteristics, as their positioning upon hidden faces of the blocks or traces of plastering testify that they were hidden from view after the completing of the palace; for these reasons we may argue that they were more likely connected to the building phases than to the symbolic decoration of the palace. [photogallery]

by AA

Phaistos Palace, kernoi photogallery

May 3, 2015 Bronze Age, Mediterranean, Photogallery No comments

Phaistos, Crete

At Phaistos Palace stone kernoi are interestingly concentrated over the limestone steps of the theatral terraces and along the paved flooring beneath. These kernoi appear worn, more likely for anthropic use than for natural weathering, so testifying foot traffic and/or the sitting of spectators. Depressions are too shallow to contain anything, apart from holding little pebbles or seeds. Such a connection with open-air shows or ceremonies would favour … [photogallery]

by AA

Magura Cave paintings, Bulgarian rock art

November 19, 2014 Academics, Balkans, Cave art, Copper age, Featured, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 33 4 comments

Sun figure

Situated in north-western Bulgaria, and managed by the Belogradchik municipality, the Magura cave (Пещера МАГУРА) is, with the Porto Badisco cave (south Italy), the most important European post-Palaeolithic painted cave. Hundreds of dark brown figures are diffused along an astonishing underground Art Gallery: hunting, dancing and mating scenes, bi-triangular female silhouettes, axes, solar symbols… a prehistoric iconographic treasure which definitely deserves a special attention. [Text and photogallery]

by Andrea ARCÀ

Magura cave photogallery

November 19, 2014 Balkans, Cave art, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 33 No comments

Magura figure

The Bulgarian Magura cave is well known for its impressive prehistoric paintings, scattered along an astonishing and dreamy 240 m long underground diverticulum, for which its Art Gallery is really worth a visit. More than 750 darkish figures have been counted, made with bat guano, smeared or rubbed along the cave walls; on the curvy shaped vaults and niches, white or yellowish “plastered” by the nature, we can recognise dancing, hunting, and mating scenes, and organise the figures into four thematic groups: anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, geometric, and symbolic signs. [Text and photogallery]

by AA

Bulgarian rock art: the Madara rider

November 19, 2014 Balkans, Epigraphy, Middle Ages, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 33 No comments

Madara rider

The Madara rider is a unique monument of the ancient Bulgarian art. Its popularity is immense in Bulgaria and since 1979 it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The high-relief depicts a rider on his stallion accompanied by a dog. A dead lion is carved under the horse and some inscriptions in Greek all around. The scene celebrates the founding of the Bulgarian state by the Khan Asparukh (680-700 AD). The Madara rider is the only European rock carved monument from the Early Middle Ages. [Text and photogallery]

by rupestre

Chenal: il riparo inciso – the engraved shelter

May 6, 2014 Archaeology, Megalithic art - arte megalitica, Methods - metodi, News - announcements - notizie, Photogallery, Talks - lectures - conferenze, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 32, Western Alps 3 comments

Chenal shelter

Una recente scoperta: le più antiche figure post-paleolitiche dell’arte rupestre alpina. A recent discovery: the most ancient post-palaeolithic figures of the alpine rock art. Venerdì 9 maggio 2014 ore 17.30 presentazione pubblica ad Aosta; Friday, May 9, 2014 5:30 p.m. public presentation at Aosta (I).

by A. Arcà, D. Daudry, A. Fossati, F. Morello, L. Raiteri, L. Bornaz

Oukaimeden, a Moroccan rock art site

January 8, 2013 Morocco, Photogallery, Talks - lectures - conferenze, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 28 No comments

Oukaimeden engraving

Here some slides and draft notes of a lecture I delivered in 2010, after visiting Oukaimeden in April 2007. I’m pleased to share pictures, but also some ideas: comments are welcome. Oukaimeden is a very important petroglyphic complex, showing Copper or Ancient Bronze Age (III-beginnings of II mill. BC) engraved weapons, and also interesting points of contact with similar European petroglpyhs, from the Iberian peninsula to the Alpine arc, Mt. Bego particularly. Last but not least, it is also a beautiful natural site...

by Andrea Arcà (Footsteps of Man – IIPP)

Warriors and duels in Valcamonica rock art

December 5, 2004 Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 20, Valcamonica - Valtellina No comments

Iron age duel

Iron Age figures represent 80% of Valcamonica rock art, hundreds of thousands of figures finely pecked on richest european archives of open-air rock art. Here only a little excerpt of warriors and duels.
Photo-gallery.

by Andrea Arcà

Rock Paintings and engravings in Namibia

December 17, 2003 Africa, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 17 No comments

Twyfelfontein

The Brandberg massif is a large granite elevation in the north-west of Namib Desert; in this area more than 1000 painted rock shelters were found. Twyfelfontein site contains about 2500 rock engraving on 200 sandstone slabs.
Photo gallery.

by † Leonardo Gribaudo

MEGART – The Megalithic Art of…

August 26, 2003 Megalithic art - arte megalitica, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 16 No comments

Gavrinis

The Gavrinis cairn (Brittany, F) with its engraved slabs is one of the most impressive monuments of the European Megalithic art (Neolithic).
Photo gallery.

by Andrea Arcà

Manzanez mill rock art: a destroyed sanctuary

June 2, 2003 Iberian peninsula, Photogallery, Rock art SOS, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 16 No comments

Manzanez submerged

The area, extremely rich in Palaeolithic-to-contemporary rock art, is now submerged, like the bordering Portuguese ones, by the huge artificial lake of the Guadiana dam. Photo gallery.

by Hipolito Collado Giraldo

Bhimbetka cave paintings (India)

November 5, 2002 Asia, Cave art, India, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 14 No comments

Bhimbhetka paintings

I am sending some photographs of pre-historic cave paintings at Bhimbetka,Madhya Pradesh, India (taken by me) which you may like to publish in TRACCE bulletin. I shall be thankful if my name is mentioned as contributor.

by Sarbanidas Roy

Guadiana rock art gallery – Portuguese side

April 29, 2001 Iberian peninsula, Photogallery, Rock art SOS, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 13 No comments

Guadiana rock art

TRACCE no. 13 – by Editor

22 pictures from the Portuguese side of the Guadiana river: many different kinds of rock art figures, now submerged by the dam

Pakistan Rock Art Photo Gallery

May 12, 1997 Asia, Photogallery, TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 7 No comments

Sun-wheels

TRACCE no. 7 – by Ulrich Schendzielorz

The photos were produced in 1994 as an assignment of the German science magazine ‘Bild der Wissenschaft’ in cooperation with Prof. Harald Hauptmann of the ‘Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften’. Read more