I’ve been writing about Italy for a very long time. Still, there is only one place in Italy I’ve written about that has provoked the ire of those who would like certain things to be kept secret, their special place. Bet you can’t guess where that is…
It’s the Valcamonica, where you can see the world’s largest collection of rock art.
Ok, I have to explain. You see, lots of times when someone mentions “rock art” in public, a whole bunch of people who have been smoking dubious weed are likely to think that the speaker is referring to the CD cover art of groups who play music loudly if not harmonically and have names like Kinky Creepy One-Eyed Pigeon Pinchers.
This is not about that.
“Rock art” is a term we archaeologists use when we’re sitting around drinking beer after a day’s work to describe what folks—usually ancient and dead—paint, scribble, incise or carve into rock. Usually the things carved into rocks are symbolic images. There are also human stick figures. Some of them are doing things a modern person needs to be over 18 to view if society’s clucking tongues are to be avoided. I’m talking sex and violence here, in case you happen to be 18 years and 364 days old and thus are forbidden to understand.
(To tell the truth, determining the difference between sex and fighting when you’re gazing at a couple of stick figures superimposed upon one another is a task that even we adults have trouble interpreting. Or some of us anyway. But I digress.)
Let me just say that the Valcamonica has some 6000 BC carvings as well as some as recent as yesterday, considering that humans can hardly resist putting their marks on places they’ve traveled to. It’s a great place to visit. You can walk among the symbols, interpreting them any way you wish, and see some darn spectacular mountain scenery while you’re at it. We have a “Valcamonica map”:httpx://www.wanderingitaly.com/a/valcamonica-map.htm that has visiting information for you, of course.
But the purpose of this post was to alert you to the celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the site’s inclusion on the World Heritage List that they’re having in Brescia in Palazzo Martinengo until May 10. Read more: Rock art spotlighted in exhibition
We’ll be there for sure. I’ll be the stick figure holding the wine glass.