Valcamonica, situated in the mountainous area of the Lombardy region, has one of the world’s greatest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs – more than 140,000 symbols and figures carved in the rock over a period of more than 8,000 years. Found on both sides of an entire valley, the petroglyphs depict themes connected to agriculture, deer hunting, duels, as well as geometric-symbolic figures.
Number, duration and variety of engravings, showing, as an example, dancing, duel, ploughing and their relations with contemporary archaeological contexts, contribute to make outstanding the value of this heritage. Furthermore continuity of engraving activity over a chronological period of more than 8.000 years, from Superior Paleolithic till roman and medieval age, with persistences till modern age, connects this extraordinary representation of human creativity to present our present era as an identity item of the valley.