The rock drawings in Valcamonica, located in the Province of Brescia, Italy, are the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. UNESCO named them a World Heritage Site in 1979, making them Italy's first such site. UNESCO officially counted more than 140,000 figures and symbols, but new discoveries have increased the number of recorded carvings to between 200,000 and 300,000. These petroglyphs are found on many surfaces in the valley, but are mostly concentrated in the areas of Darfo Boario Terme, Capo di Ponte, Nadro, Cimbergo, and Paspardo.
Characteristics
Most of the petroglyphs were carved into smooth rock surfaces shaped by glaciers and large rocks left behind by glaciers. These surfaces became visible when the last glacier that formed the valley moved away about 15,000 years ago.
Many of the carvings were made over a time span of 8,000 years before the Iron Age (which began around 1,000 BC). The petroglyphs from the final period are linked to the Camunian people, who are mentioned in writings from ancient Rome. The petroglyph tradition did not end suddenly. Some carvings were made during the Roman period, the medieval period, and possibly even as recently as the 19th century, though these are much fewer than the earlier carvings. Most of the carvings were made using a tool called a "martellina," which is a hammer-like object used to create small circular holes in the rock. Fewer carvings were made by scratching directly onto the rock, known as graffiti.
The images are sometimes placed on top of each other without clear order. Other images seem to be connected logically, such as scenes showing religious ceremonies, hunting, or battles. These images are not exact copies of real objects but represent ideas. They were used in celebrations, such as to remember events, mark important life stages, or ask for good fortune. These practices were first religious in nature and later became secular, taking place during special events or recurring occasions. One of the most well-known symbols found in Valcamonica is the "Rosa camuna," or Camunian rose, which is now the official symbol of the Lombardy region.
The historiated cycle: themes and periodization
In the 1960s, the archaeologist Emmanuel Anati, one of the first to study the area systematically, created a timeline of rock carvings. He compared the style and types of symbols to find possible connections with traditional historical periods, from Prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Anati’s research divided Val Camonica into several periods: Proto-Camunian, Camunian I, II, III, IV, and Post-Camunian (including the Roman, Medieval, and recent periods).
The earliest rock carvings date back to the Epipaleolithic (or Mesolithic, Proto-Camunian, 8th–6th millennium BC), thousands of years after glaciers covering Val Camonica (Würm glaciation) melted. These carvings were made by nomadic hunters following animal migrations. The images show large animals like deer and elk, which were common prey at that time. Some carvings also depict animals wounded by spears. This type of rock art is typical of hunter-gatherer societies and is linked to tools like blades and microlites. Similar carvings appear in the Luine Municipal Park (Darfo Boario Terme).
During the Neolithic period (about 5500–3300 BC), agriculture spread in Val Camonica, leading to the first settled communities. Rock art from this time includes human figures and geometric shapes like rectangles, circles, and dots, which add symbolic meaning to petroglyphs. Similar carvings are found in the Regional Reserve of Rock Engravings of Ceto, Cimbergo, and Paspardo. Some scholars debate whether certain human-like figures, called "oranti" ("praying figures"), belong to the Neolithic or the Bronze Age. If the "oranti" are linked to the Bronze Age, then the geometric patterns are considered the only Neolithic or early Copper Age (4th millennium BC) carvings, interpreted as maps of farmed land.
Domesticated animals like dogs, goats, and bulls appear in carvings from this period.
By the end of the Camunian II period, religious symbols became more common. The dog, the first domesticated animal, was worshipped during this time.
During the Copper Age (about 3300–2500 BC), new symbols appeared, showing the wheel, wagons, and early metalwork. Alpine rock art began to develop, with carvings of celestial symbols, animals, weapons, plowing, human chains, and other signs. Early human figures were simple, but later images became more detailed, including weapons, astral disks, and rectangles that symbolized the world. These carvings, found mainly in the Archaeological Park of National Massi Cemmo and Asinino-Anvòia (Ossimo), suggest rituals connected to ancestor worship.
In the Bronze Age (about 2nd millennium BC), rock carvings focused more on weapons, reflecting their importance in Camunian society. Geometric shapes like circles remained common, continuing patterns from earlier times.
Carvings from the Iron Age (1st millennium BC) are linked to the Camunni people and make up about 70–80% of all recorded carvings. These works show ideals of male strength and dominance. Common themes include duels, large human figures showing weapons, muscles, and genitals, as well as cabins, labyrinths, footprints, and hunting scenes. Topographic patterns, like those on the famous Bedolina Map (first studied by Miguel Beltrán Llorís and later by Cristina Turconi of Milan University), appear mainly during the 6th–4th century BC.
During the Roman rule of Val Camonica (around 100 BC–500 AD), rock carving activity declined sharply and became rare.
The Middle Ages saw a return to rock engraving, starting in the early Medieval period. Many carvings from this time include Christian symbols like crosses and keys, which were added over older pagan symbols, such as crosses and keys, to make these places sacred.
Discovery and evaluation
The first written record of the engraved stones was in 1909, when Walther Laeng told the National Committee for the Protection of Monuments about two decorated rocks near Cemmo (Capo di Ponte). Scholars became more interested in the rocks during the 1920s, including Giuseppe Bonafini, geologist Senofonte Squinabol, and, starting in 1929, anthropologist Giovanni Marro and archaeologist Paolo Graziosi. Soon, many more carvings were found on nearby rocks, and research was done by Marro and others, such as Raffaele Battaglia, who worked for the Superintendent of Antiquities in Padua.
By the 1930s, the carvings were widely known in Italy and other countries. Between 1935 and 1937, German scholars Franz Altheim and Erika Trautmann studied the stones extensively. Altheim claimed the carvings showed ideas from Nazi beliefs, and Marro later copied this view, suggesting the carvings proved the existence of an ancient Aryan race.
After World War II, mapping and recording the carvings began again, led by Laeng and scholars from the young Museum of Natural Sciences in Brescia, including both Italian and international experts. In 1955, the Archaeological Superintendent of Lombardy created the Parco nazionale delle incisioni rupestri di Naquane to protect the stones and their carvings. In 1956, Emmanuel Anati started exploring the area and found new petroglyphs. His organized studies allowed him to publish the first volume about "La civilization du Val Camonica" in 1960. In 1964, Anati started the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici (Camunian Center of Prehistoric Studies). The first "Valcamonica Symposium" took place in 1968, beginning a series of conferences that brought many experts in art and prehistoric life to Valcamonica.
After UNESCO added the site to its list of World Heritage Sites as number 94, research continued to expand the records of the heritage stones.