Homepage

Newsletter Index

Subscriptions

Links

Contact








Designed &
Hosted by the
Bradshaw Foundation

	RSS Feed

Inora Newsletter #46
Discoveries

ZURLA AND VERDI : TWO NEW ROCK ART ZONES IN VALCAMONICA (ITALY)

	The second exceptional discovery is a sequence of four stags with circles in place of hooves, alternating with footprints and two bird figures (Fig. 3). A careful examination reveals that these figures were originally water birds, to which were added horns and legs. Such anomalies recall the ambiguity and the multi-symbolism typical of Celtic art, to which the scene can be attributed. The antler of one of the stags suggests a horn of plenty, while the other stretches out into an ox skull viewed frontally or a headless bust. The iconography of the quadruped, with little circles at the end of the legs recalls, however, Iron Age archaeological artefacts in metal (“pendants”) and vase decorations. In rock art this mythic scene is for the moment unique. (left) Fig. 5. Zurla Rock 12 (Valcamonica). A horse transporting a wheel, solar sign and symbol of the god Taranis. Late Iron Age.

In a similar dimension there is the “werewolf”, an anthropomorphic figure resulting from the transformation of a canid by the prolongation of its lower members. The image, associated with that of a hut, might be translating a ritual or at least possess a very strong mythico-symbolic value (Fig. 4).

Among other significant discoveries, there are: a sequence of warriors and horses, one of which has a wheel on its back, a solar image of a heavenly divinity as for the Celtic god Taranis (Fig. 5); numerous huts associated with warriors, footprints and, above all, bird prints; two new North Etruscan inscriptions, probably showing names of people or their functions; one of them, in capitals, introduces a decorated zone, a frequent characteristic in numerous zones on this face of the mountain. It is probable that the hut images, in reality representing barns or silos, loaded with symbolic meaning, have a funerary value as suggested by their similarity to urns decorated with huts from Tuscany and Latium (Xth–XIth Centuries BC) and to those of North – Central Europe (of Halstatt inspiration) and funerary elements with huts at Balzers (Liechtenstein) and Bologna (Villanovan stele).

	Figs. 6 and 7. Zurla Rock 5 (Valcamonica). A scene with symbolic elements, typical of the Zurla zone. Middle Iron Age. A spoked figure with ends finishing in “half busts” or “bird footed” has finally been discovered and copied. Its enigmatic aspect is a good synthesis of Zurla’s original character with its characteristic “esoteric-initiation” element combined with a high level of artistic achievement (Fig. 6-7).

VERDI

Following the mule track from Zurla to the south, along the lower limits of the Naquane National Park, after several tens of metres a rocky spur overlooks the valley. Its summit has a natural concavity that could have served as a ritual basin for liquids or could also have been used as a hearth.

This is the site of the Verdi group of engravings, which, with the band of territory between Naquane and the regional reserve of Ceto-Cimbergo-Paspardo was the object of our work of surveying and tracing in the 2004 summer. The site is heavily decorated: seven rocks out of the 19 found that year contain 627 figures out of 814 discovered (126 anthropomorphs, 90 zoomorphs, 26 huts, 91 objects and symbols, 481 other signs).

	The other figures, which can be dated to the Iron Age, are the most numerous (over 85% of the whole): warriors dancing, a duel to the death, one of the combatants being transfixed by his rival’s lance (a rare occurrence in Valcamonica where it only appears twice). Some of these figures show a probable Etruscan influence in the care shown in their execution, precise anatomical details and proportions and faithful rendering of the warriors’ panoply. One of them, with a spiked helmet, is exemplary from this point of view with his shield and the sheath of a dagger or short sword at his belt; this latter and a helmet reproduced full-size, enable its dating by comparison with similar looking archaeological artefacts. (left) Fig. 8. Verdi Rock 2 (Valcamonica). An engraving of a two-headed figure, noted in Valcamonica in the phase of Celtic influence and frequent in the iconography of the Late Iron Age.

The other figures, which can be dated to the Iron Age, are the most numerous (over 85% of the whole): warriors dancing, a duel to the death, one of the combatants being transfixed by his rival’s lance (a rare occurrence in Valcamonica where it only appears twice). Some of these figures show a probable Etruscan influence in the care shown in their execution, precise anatomical details and proportions and faithful rendering of the warriors’ panoply. One of them, with a spiked helmet, is exemplary from this point of view with his shield and the sheath of a dagger or short sword at his belt; this latter and a helmet reproduced full-size, enable its dating by comparison with similar looking archaeological artefacts.

Etruscan influence is also suggested by splendid zoomorphs, stags, horses and waterfowl but the certain evidence for cultural elements from the Peninsula can be found in three inscriptions in North Etruscan characters. One of them is identical to a Rhaetian pre-Roman inscription at San Zeno di Cortaccia (Bolzano) while another resembles an incomplete ABC.

A praying two-headed anthropomorph (Fig. 8) seems to recall a Late Iron Age Celtic religious context and is a probable representation of a Celtic “Janus” while a spoked wheel evokes the attributes of the god Taranis. The spiral (a wind instrument of the bucca type) associated with a quadruped, fantastic animal figures with lines emerging from the back and, in the zone very close to Foppe di Nadro, the anthropomorph with elongated arms raised to the sky duelling with a warrior (Fig. 9) are all probably evocations of myths and their heroes. A bust standing on a pole, which might suggest a standard, remains difficult to interpret.

The abundant rock art we have found relates to the ultimate phase of the site’s frequentation, but the schematic praying figures, among which we find in particular an “androgynous figure” with attributes as much masculine as feminine (Fig. 10), ox-skull motifs, cup-marks, sometimes in rosette compositions, denote an early origin in the Late Neolithic.

Fig. 9. Foppe di Nardo Rock 19 (Valcamonica). An anthropomorph with abnormally elongated arms. Late Iron Age.		Fig. 10. Verdi Rock 3 (Valcamonica). An androgynous figure of exceptional symbolic significance surrounded by other schematic anthropomorphic praying figures. Probable Late Neolithic.

The engravings from diverse eras tend to make up autonomous panels juxtaposed without super-impositions, which illustrates a respect for earlier works, perhaps re-used after their rereading. Such is the case of a schematic praying figure “with big hands and feet” (Fig. 11), originally associated with a canid, cup-marks and other schematic signs, to which were added in the Iron Age: four warriors, certain ornithomorphs and a quadruped. In the same way, a complex scene, where a labyrinth suggests a sense of initiation, results from reuse in the Iron Age when a canid with an elongated body carrying a circular figure under the belly and flanked by schematic praying figures is joined by a warrior, a North-Etruscan letter and a horseman
(Fig. 12).

It is also worth noting at Verdi four labyrinths or labyrinth-forms, a considerable concentration when only ten are so far known in the whole Valcamonica.

Fig. 11. Verdi Rock 5 (Valcamonica). A general view and detail of praying figure “with big hands and feet”, a very significant shamanic and sacerdotal figure, probably dating to the Neolithic. The engraving was used and completed in the Late Iron Age with other figures.

The remaining twelve surfaces (among which four were previously totally unknown) found and copied in the regional reserve seem to have been little engraved, with a predominance of huts and a chronological phase attributable almost exclusively to the Iron Age. They are to be interpreted as marginal, rocky transition phases between a major decorated zone and the following one. Rock 78 is an exception in this case: it is a small fallen block one of whose vertical faces was decorated, probably by the same individual, with an homogenous group of 26 figures.

The scene is centred around a schematic female praying figure linked by two small disks to a central cup-mark. A pair of circles joined by a groove or striation, schematic figures at prayer and canids surround the central figure, three of the canids curving their tails to form circles. Parallel to the principal praying figure, a long engraved line, which terminates in a complete disk, could be like that on a panel at Trevisio in the Valtelline (dated to the Early Bronze Age) or to others at Monte Bego. This emphasis on the theme of figures at prayer, disks and dogs is common to other nearby surfaces and more detailed studies of the subjects and their associations are underway.
(above right) Fig. 12. Verdi Rock 3 (Valcamonica). An exceptional group of engravings from the Middle Bronze and Late Iron Ages: the earliest phase is made up of the circle and the praying figures, to which were added warriors, writings and horsemen of the Mid and Late Iron Age.

Umberto SANSONI,
Directeur du Département Valcamonica et Lombardie, CCSP
Silvana GAVALDO & Marco CAPARDONI,
Chercheur au Département Valcamonica et Lombardie, CCSP

A large number of people took part in the two campaigns. They came from various European countries as well as Italy; they were mainly archaeology students and workers with in addition enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds.

An archaeological investigation goes beyond simple research and plays a role in raising awareness of the value of the sites among the inhabitants without whose cooperation their effective preservation is difficult to imagine and carry out.

---