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Valcamonica is a glaciated valley in the Alpine foothills of Lombardy, italy, that contains a rich collection of prehistoric rock art conventionally divided into four chronological phases (Neolithic, Copper Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age) with subdivisions. Thousands of images were pecked into the glacially smoothed rock surfaces, and they include daggers, chariots, warriors and warfare, sun motifs, hunting and plowing scenes, men and animals, and geometric designs. Certain images are interpreted as huts while some at the site of Bedolina in Valcamonica are usually thought to be maps of settlements.
The known rock art comprises around 300,000 petroglyphs, although hundreds of decorated rocks probably remain buried. The art was first pointed out by a shepherd in 1914, but serious study really began decades later. This was the first rock art in Europe to be named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The major set of decorated rock surfaces that is arranged for public visitation, with walkways, etc., is that of Naquane (another part of this site).
See also
(1884–1973)
Born in Holland, Albert Egges Van Giffen graduated from the University of Groningen, where he studied biology and theology. He became interested in archaeology through his analysis of the faunal remains from prehistoric dwelling mounds or terps. He was appointed a keeper in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden in 1912, and he began to excavate and publish the results of a number of important sites. He finished his Ph.D. in 1913.
Van Giffen is best known for his skill as an excavator, to which he rigorously applied biological methods. In his early work, structure, periodization, and environmental data took priority over archaeological artifacts. He specialized in coastal geology and archaeozoology and always sought the expertise of paleobotanists, soil scientists, physical anthropologists, and chemists. His multidisciplinary approach to archaeology served widely as a model.
He founded the Biological-Archaeological Institute in 1920 at Groningen University and the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory at Amsterdam University in 1950. In 1947, he became the first head of the State Service for Archaeological Research, and he was responsible for archaeological collections at the Assen (1916– 1955) and Groningen Museums (1917–1955). From 1929 to 1973, he was responsible for the protective governmental acquisition, maintenance, and restoration of megalithic tombs in the netherlands. The quantity and chronological range of his excavations—from prehistoric terps, barrows, and urnfields to provincial Roman castellum (forts) and medieval Cistercian abbeys—have ensured that his scientific legacy continues to play a major role in Dutch archaeology.
References
For references, see Encyclopedia of Archaeology: The Great Archaeologists, Vol. 1, ed. Tim Murray (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999), pp. 352–356.
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