Alberto De Giuli, Ausilio Priuli The Wall Paintings of La Balma Dei Cervi in the Antigorio Valley (Lepontine Alps - )

The Alpine region is particularly rich in pre- historic evidence and especially in that one we usually define as “prehistoric art”. To the great “sanctuaries” of figurative art as Vallecamonica, Valtellina, the Asiago Plateau, the slopes of Baldo Mount and Bego Mount , who house thousands or even hundreds of thousands of figures, scenes and symbols, we have to add hundreds of sites characterized by small, medium or spo- radic figures and symbols, and especially by “smaller expressions” as cup-marks, graffiti and fusiform engravings made with re- peated scratches. This small valley, crossed by the river Every day we discover new sites and new Toce, connects with the Valley engravings, especially in places where the that, through the San Giacomo Pass (2313 engraving tradition with ritual function was m. asl), communicates with Switzerland not replaced until the complete coming of through the Bedretto Valley, while climbing Christianity. up the Devero Valley and the Arbola Pass One of the latest discoveries, in chrono- (2409 m. asl) we descend into the Valley logical order, has particular importance be- of Binn, or climbing up Valtendra Pass we cause it is not characterized by rock engrav- reach the Veglia Alp in the Divedro Valley, ings, but by many figurative red paintings, which in turn leads to the Simplon Pass. located in a place far away from the big There is no doubt that in the course of time sanctuaries of prehistoric art and which un- it has been an important communicating til now had shown almost exclusively cup- valley that allowed to communicate with marks, and so symbolic expressions, result of the Rhone Valley in the Valais part. the popular piety. The archaeological findings The geographical position in the Antigorio Valley The pictorial group of what we have called In the Antigorio Valley a series of archaeo- “Balma dei Cervi” is located in the middle logical findings were found, mainly from of Antigorio Valley, one of the valleys ori- Roman times, some prehistoric and proto- ented northwards of the Valley that historic ones and boulders with cup-marks. originates north of and enters In the municipality of , in Arvenolo into the Lepontine Alps. area, there is a megalithic wall which is

Adoranten 2013 89 called the “Devil’s Wall”. It was built with which is difficult to interpret and to date, large stones cut with the cugnere system. were found, while in the Cianciavero area The so called cugnere are large notches for lithic finds dated back to the final phase inserting wooden wedges, which, enlarg- of the Mesolithic period and consisting of ing because of water, smash the stones. tools, for the most part made of rock crystal This megalithic complex, whose functions and few ones made of flint, were found in a remain until now a mystery , seems to have seasonal camp of hunters. These mesolithic been built in Roman times. findings have typological comparisons with Between 1969 and 1973 in Molinaccio the lithic production found in Mergozzo. area grave goods dated back between the One can’t exclude that the Veglia area first century B.C. and the second century. hunters settled during the winter months in A.D. were found. the valley and along the shores of the lakes. At the alpine pasture Sass di Bar in The territory also provided evidence Cravegna, in 1935, a tomb of the second of figurative art, which it is certainly not century A.D. was found. quantitatively and typologically comparable At Mozzio other tombs of the first to the great alpine sanctuaries, but at the century A.D. and a grave with Campanian same time very important for the country. ceramic and a Gallic sword, dated back to Here the expressions of the figurative the second half of first century B.C., were rock art show geometric and schematic pat- found. terns or with cup-marks, as for example in There are Roman remains also in . the Piano di Crodo or Salecchio Superiore They were in tombs dated back to the sec- area and elsewhere. We would like to re- ond century AD, while from the Devero Alp port the recent and unpublished discovery comes a Marcus Aurelius coin (161-180 AD). of a stone with cup-marks found at Vova At , in the locality of Prem, three Alp, at 1600 meters above sea level: it has grave complexes dated back to the Augus- about ten cup-marks, including one filled tan period were found. by a tuft of grass that once emptied ap- The oldest evidence until now discovered peared very large and deep (diameter 20 in the Antigorio Valley comes from the cm, depth 10 cm) and on the bottom had a Pontigei Alp: it is a fragment of a lithic ax, large number of white quartzite fragments, made of serpentine stone, which is dated which were certainly deposited for a ritual back to the Copper Age. A kind of axe that purpose. seems to have persisted up to the ancient The rock paintings, subject of this pre- Bronze Age. liminary note and discovered and reported At Marani Pass (2510 m asl), near “La in 2011 to the Archaeological Group of Bocchetta dell’Arbola” which connects Mergozzo and to the writers by Mr. Livio the Formazza Valley with the Binn Valley Lanfranchi, were the subject of a 2012 first and where findings from the Iron Age and analysis, but further study and stratigraphic from the Roman period were discovered, exploration in the site will be the subject of a bronze dagger blade of the Veruno type future interventions. (1600 - 1300 BC) which was broken in the The pictorial group was made along a upper part was found in a geode of quartz vertical rock, in a panoramic position over- crystals. looking the valley, sheltered by a large and So, if the permanent settlements in Ro- imposing balma (a rocky sheet), which has man times were fairly common among the protected and guaranteed the conserva- Ossola valleys, only a few sporadic findings tion of the paintings for several millennia. allows us to go back to the Copper Age and In fact, though surely during the winter to the Bronze Age. months the snow blown by the wind and For going back further in time we have the ice have always occupied the entire to go to Veglia Alp, where, at the Balm shelter, the height and the angle of the della Vardaiola, some pottery from the Iron balma did not allow the rain to drum on Age and the faint trace of a red painting,

90 Adoranten 2013 Fig. 1. The Balma of the deer the painted wall causing its erosion or de- the thin limestone crust on which they were tachment. painted. Under the long, and in some points, The images are distributed on a vertical deep rocky ledge there are many collapsed wall about 6 meters long, on a zone little boulders some of which have cup-marks more than 1 meter high. They are oriented of uncertain execution; at the end of the South-North and so facing west. rocky ledge there is the balma: a natural rock shelter with a projecting and high roof which houses the paintings . Geological survey In the light of the traces which indicated of the rock paintings the constant presence of ungulates, it came The rocks on which there are rock paintings naturally to call the place “Balma dei Cervi” belong to the group known in geological (“Balma of the deer”). literature under the name of mica schists of The paintings, made in red ocher and in Baceno: it is a mica schist with many lenses good condition and very visible, appeared of milky quartz, associated with veins and immediately of ancient workmanship. The lenses of various sizes of other fine-grained first sensation was that they were probably dark green rocks that are characterized by a works made with a fingertip after being basic chemism. dipped directly into the colored pigment; in In these leaden gray mica schist, charac- addition we have immediately also the feel- terized by silvery brightness, there are other ing that they had been realized in a short characteristic minerals, as wine garnets, rare lapse of time, if not probably even by the iron sulphides and millimetric patinas of same hand. blue - green copper oxides. Some of the paintings have appeared As in our case, sometimes the surfaces incomplete because of the detachment of have calcareous scales which appear as “natural plastering.”

Adoranten 2013 91 Fig. 2. The first group of paintings

The water evaporation of these saline so- according to the intentions of those who lutions along large surfaces causes a chemi- made them. cal deposition of microscopic calcite crystals The group of paintings starts with a red and of neo-formation aragonite, on which dot at eye-level and ends with another, it was possible to paint with natural colors, more or less at the same height, at the with excellent adhesion and resistance to opposite end, as if the two points indi- the degradation caused by the passing of cated the limits of the space that has to be time. painted. The dominant representations of the pic- torial complex are schematic anthropomor- Description of the paintings phic figures made with soft and rounded For the first time in the Alps, an entire wall lines and connected with dot-like ideo- of a large under rock shelter homes a set grams, maybe digital ones, and arranged of many images and ideograms associated into lines, double lines, geometric groups together and forming ,for those who made and “enclosures”. them, a meaningful speech created for Most of the anthropomorphic figures are ritual purposes and not by change. of the “praying” figure type, with opposite For more than six meters along the rock symmetrical limbs, namely with raised arms; wall, at the base of the extensive projecting the other ones are those of the type with balma” that has protected their conserva- symmetrical arms and legs pointing down- tion and that has preserved them from the wards; some ones are phallic, other ones erosion of the atmospheric agents, some seem apparently asexual; many figures are groups of red ocher figures and symbols headless. The height of anthropomorphic are neatly and organizationally arranged, figures ranging from about 20 to 10 cm.

92 Adoranten 2013 Fig. 3. A detail of the first group of paintings

The most of the anthropomorphic fig- dence. From the anthropomorphic figures, ures is evidently connected with the dots as if to link them together, start several se- in linear disposition, which are arranged ries of dots simply made impressing the fin- in groups that seem to be the graphic ma- ger and arranged in single or multiple lines. terialization of concepts expressed by the At short distance from the first composi- anthropomorphic figures or which are at- tion, on the left, there is another headless, tributes of the same. but sexed, anthropomorphic figure with Some anthropomorphic figures seem to arms and legs bent down. It has two dots be related with color “spots”, which ,per- symmetrically plotted near the arms and haps, are incomplete or unfinished figures. one near the leg. It clearly appears inside a They are still in red color and of the same kind of quadrangular enclosure made with type used for all the identified expressions. a series of dots and connected to a second Looking at the set of paintings from enclosure, of similar shape, but of smaller right to left, that is the order in which you dimension, and which is empty. enter the balma from the South, we can identify at least six groups of figures, which Moving us to the left, on a rock surface are separate from each other and arranged which curves inwards, there is the second following the natural slope of the rocky group of paintings that has two anthropo- stratum and the vertical fractures. morphic schematic and headless figures in The first group contains five schematic which the male sex organs are in evidence anthropomorphic figures, among which and from which a symmetrical double dot there is an incomplete one: three asexual line starts. At the top the double line is and headless figures with low arms, one joined by simple horizontal dots creating a with raised arms in the “praying” position sort of triangle. Not far away, on the left, with male sex organs and the head in evi- there is a schematic anthropomorphic male

Adoranten 2013 93 Fig. 4. The second group of paintings

Fig. 5. A detail of the third group of paintings

94 Adoranten 2013 is divided into two sectors (more or less with the same size) by two parallel lines, still consisting of dots made with the fingers and vertically placed. An anthropomorphic figure, which appears in an overturned po- sition, joins its raised arms above his head and it his feet are clearly in evidence. Next to it there are two long color blots.

The fourth group, which is above the previous one, shows evidence of incom- plete anthropomorphic figures and signs which are difficult to read because of the detachment of the calcitic crust contain- ing the color. The best preserved image is a schematic anthropomorphic headless figure which has a rough male sex , with winding legs and arms and apexes indicating hands and feet.

The fifth group, painted down left of the previous one and ending at a striking change in the rock level, has a schematic anthropomorphic figure in poor condition and a series of dots made with the fingers painted in parallel and winding rows, mark- Fig. 6. A detail of the sixth group of paintings edly incomplete because of the detachment of large portions of the calcitic layer con- figure, headless, with raised and joined taining them. arms. Just below some linear graffiti are identifiable. The sixth group is among the richest in the pictorial group, but because of its posi- The third group, painted on a rock stra- tion more exposed to weathering and to tum above but towards the left, shows a the rubbing of the deer during the molt, it series of pictures which are the most inter- is at the same time the less preserved, espe- esting among the paintings, together with cially in the central part. other anthropomorphic figures. The first This group hosts several schematic an- picture, placed in the middle of the pictorial thropomorphic figures both with low arms group, is oval in shape and divided into two which are symmetric with the legs and with parts by a large and marked vertical line. raised arms in the classic “praying” attitude. The two parts have respectively two dots in These figures are different sizes and some a symmetrical position. At the end of the ones are seemingly less accurate than those median line, the border become thicker tak- of the first and of the second group. Two of ing a convex shape, while a short append- the figures seem extreme schematizations age seems to stick out in high and on the of the human figure and they were reduced right side. to anchor-shape signs. The same sector has striking color blots Proceeding slightly to the left, a rectan- and it is crammed with dots which are ac- gular picture appears. It is realized with cumulated in nebula-shape and in parallel color blots presumably made with the use lines forming clear geometric shapes. of fingers as all the others that characterize The anthropomorphic figures arrange- the pictorial group. The rectangular image ment seem to have taken into account the

Adoranten 2013 95 natural spatial parts of the rock, character- Graziosi P., 1973, L’arte preistorica in Italia. ized by layer cracks and breaks. Edited by Sansoni. Firenze. At a distance of 15 meters towards Graziosi P., 1980, Le pitture preistoriche north, a isolated trace of a possible sche- della grotta di Porto Badisco. ORIGINES. matic anthropomorphic figure has been Firenze. discovered. Lo Schiavo F., 1980, La Grotta del Bue Ma- One can’t exclude that further explora- rino a Cala Gonone, (Dorgali). In Sardegna tions may reveal the presence of other Centro-orientale, p. 53-59. paintings or other evidence of rock engrav- Lo Schiavo F., 1988, Ozieri. In Civici musei ings, as well as human settlements. archeologici della provincia di Sassari, p. 42-43. Ausilio Priuli, Mattioli T., 2010, Le pitture rupestri della MUSEO DIDATTICO D’ARTE E VITA grotta dell’Arco di Bellegra (Bellegra, PREISTORICA - CAPO DI PONTE () Roma). In Lazio e Sabina, Edited by Quasar. Roma. Alberto De Giuli, Mezzena F., 1980, Scoperte di pitture rup- GRUPPO ARCHEOLOGICO MERGOZZO (Italy) estri nel Vajo Sarmazzo in Valpantena (Ve- , rona). In Il territorio veronese dalle origini all’età romana, edited by Fiorini-Verona, p. 144-154. Bibliography Mollo Mezzena R., 2008, La valle d’Aosta AA.VV., 1998, Dei di pietra. Edited by Skira. e i rapporti con i paesi transalpini Milano. nell’antichità. In La valle d’Aosta e l’Europa, AA.VV., 2012, Inter Alpes, Atti del convegno edited by Leo Oelschki. Firenze. sugli insediamenti in area alpina tra preisto- Muller-Karpe H., 1968, Handbuch der ria ed età romana. G.A.M. (Mergozzo Arca- Vorgeschichte,II. In Jungsteinzeit. Monaco. heological Group). Pace D., 1972, Petroglifi di Grosio. Tellina Acanfora M.O., 1960, Pittura dell’età Opuscola 2. Milano. preistorica. Milano. Priuli A., 1984, Incisioni rupestri di Monte Arcà A., Fossati A., Marchi E., Tognoni E., Bego. Edited by Priuli &Verlucca. Ivrea. 1995, Rupe Magna. In Quaderni del Parco Priuli A., 1985, Incisioni rupestri nelle Alpi. delle incisioni rupestri di Grosio. Edited by Priuli &Verlucca. Ivrea. Bagolini B., 1973, Scoperte di arte neolitica Priuli A., 1985, Valtellina preistorica. Noti- al Riparo Gaban (Trento). B.C.S.P. Vol. X, p. ziario n. 37, p. 92-103. Banca popolare di 59-63. Sondrio. Contu E., 1965,Nuovi petroglifi schematici Priuli A., 1985, Incisioni rupestri della Valca- della Sardegna. In B.P.I., n. s. XVI Vol. 74, p. monica. Edited by Priuli &Verlucca. Ivrea. 69-122. Priuli A., 1988, Le incisioni antropomorfe Caramella P., De Giuli A., 1993, Archeologia schematiche camune nel quadro della pro- dell’alto Novarese. Antiquarium Mergozzo. duzione schematica italiana. In Quaderni De Giuli A., 2011, Le latomie ossolane. Os- Camuni n. 42, p.128-146. cellana 4/2011, p. 187-193. Priuli A., 1991, La cultura figurativa De Giuli A., 2012, Gli stanziamenti stabili preistorica e di tradizione in Italia. Edited by della preistoria sul territorio mergozzese. In Giotto Printer. Pesaro. Inter Alpes, Insediamenti in area alpina tra Priuli A., 2006, Il linguaggio della preistoria. preistoria ed età romana, G.A.M.(Mergozzo Edited by Ananke. Torino. Arcaheological Group),p. 15-30. Forest J-D., 2003, Catal Hoyuk et son decor: pour le déchiffrement d’un code symbol- ique. In Arts et symboles du Néolithique à la Protohistoire, edited by Serrance. Paris.

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