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Name      
Italia    Valsusa - Rocca del Chiodo 2 EuroPreArt - European Prehistoric Art

Italy map
Keywords: meander, spiral, bronze age,
Institution: Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Footsteps of Man)  http://rupestre.net/orme
Record
proposed
by
Orme dell'Uomo - Footsteps of Man, Valcamonica - Italy
 
Location
Specific feedbackSpecific feedback

Country:

Italia

Locality:

Mompantero - Rocca del Chiodo

Region:

Piemonte

Area:

Valsusa

 

click to enlarge
Mompantero, Rocca del Chiodo, general panoramic view over the Susa valley (photo A. Arcà - Footsteps of Man 1992)
click to enlarge
Copyright. No commercial use of EuroPreArt content is allowed. Specific © for pictures and drawings is mentioned in the captions or owned by each Author or Institution.
Disclaim. The EuroPreArt project fully endorses the most recent documentation policies. It must be outlined the absolute forbidding of any disruptive method and the necessity of a total respect for archaeological sites. It is also to be noticed that no substances shall be applied to rock art for recording purposes. Some pictures of the EuroPreArt records are related to past recording techniques and may not fully match these policies. They are an historical documentation. Please refer to local archaeological official authorities for any recording purpose. Please take a look also over EuroPreArt guidelines.
 
Environment & Surface

Altitude:

950 m
Open-air   Shelter   Cave Portable   Megalithic

Geography:
Terrace on rocky slope, southward exposed, panoramic site, abandoned sheep pasture, abandoned vines, xerophilous vegetation (Juniperus, little pine-tree), stone walls, arid and windy area.

Proximity:

Path

Geology:

Filladic calcschist (metamorphic rock composed by calcite and mica). This kind of rock allows the pecking technique, but is more affected by the erosion (water and wind) than the Permian sandstone, thus the siliceous component, not soluble in water, is quite resistant.

Surface:

Smooth, microgranulated, flat, 10-15° of inclination, encrusted maroon lichens, patina

Dimensions:
Length 1.06 m.  Width 0.64 m.

 

click to enlarge
 
Art        

Description:

Engravings   Paintings   Painted engravings   High or low-relief   Sculpture
The little slab is a part of an engraved surfaces group. The figure is constituted by a spiral prosecuting in a meandering line. The pecking is much better preserved in the underground (few cm) part. The figure (and all the meandering figures of this area) is very similar to the meanders and spirals of the close Haute Maurienne French valley (Plan des Glières, Arcelle Neuve sites), where the altitude of the engraved areas is much more higher (over 2000-2000 m).

Figures:
total number 1
Meandering spiral

Chronology:

Palaeolithic   Epipalaeolithic - Mesolithic   Neolithic   Copper Age   Bronze Age   Iron Age   Roman   Middle Age   Modern   Unknown
This is a problematic subject to be dated. It's possible to find a double chronological attribution: Neolithic-first Copper Age (by comparison with the meanders and the spirals of the Irish passage graves and of the megalithic art) or Bronze Age - First Iron Age (by comparison with the engravings of the Haute Maurienne French valley where such patterns seem to be related to the Iron Age topographical compositions). The study of the superimpositions in the Valsusa area testify that the meandro-spiralic pattern is overlapped by late Iron Age figures, like axes.

Notes:

The entire area was terraced and cultivated (vines, potatoes) till the '50-'60s. No water available if not through artificial channels. It's one of the possible ways to reach the top of the Rocciamelone mountain (more than 3500 m), the highest mountain in the Susa valley, where traditional pilgrimage is still practised (the Holy Mary of the Rocciamelone, http://www.rupestre.net/archiv/nat3.htm).
 
Bibliography        





European total bibliography, by EuroPreArt partnersTotal (Europe)
Italia EuroPreArt general bibliography, by Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Footsteps of Man)General (country)
Specific Valsusa  - Rocca del Chiodo 2 bibliography, by Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Footsteps of Man)Specific (site)
Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic worldwide Database (external link). Compiled by Leigh Marymor. Copyright (C) 2001-2002 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley Bibliographic
Rock Art
Database

 

 
Conservation        

Status:

Public   Private   Park   Classified site

Risk:

Figures are visible only on a grazing light. The site is poorly attended, thus some people is passing with motorbikes along the mountain path. The surface is affected by the erosion. The area is rarely covered by snow.

Conservation:

Good   Quite good   Mediocre   Bad

Intervention:

The rock has been completely recorded (International western Alps rock art record), traced (contact tracing and digital vectorial rendition), photographed (normal light and grazing light colour slides) under enchargement of the Archaeological Superintendence of Piedmont. More info (Italian version) at http://rupestre.net/archiv and http://rupestre.net/alps.

 

By          

Compiler:

Andrea Arcà

Institution:

Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Footsteps of Man)  http://rupestre.net/orme
 
         Record n. 495 / 807
No commercial use is allowed. Specific © is mentioned in the captions or owned by each Author or Institution  
 
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NEW: Alpine rock paintings
enter the Balma dei Cervi Virtual Museum and surf the Virtual Tour: spherical pano-views,
hi-def flat photos and tracings


EuroPreArt, European Prehistoric Art, is a web-based archaeological project funded by the European Union which aims to establish a lasting data-base of European prehistoric art documentation, to launch the base of an European institutional network and to contribute to the awareness of the diversity and richness of European Prehistoric Art.
It is proposed by: Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT, Portugal), CUEBC - European University Centre for Cultural Heritage (Italy - Europe), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España), Asociación Cultural Colectivo Barbaón (España), Université de Liège (Belgique), Gotland University College (Sverige), University College Dublin (Eire), Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Italia), Study Centre and Museum of Prehistoric Art of Pinerolo (Italia), The European Centre for Prehistoric Research in the Alto Ribatejo (Portugal), ArqueoJovem - a youth NGO (Portugal).
Instituto Politécnico de Tomar - Portugal CUEBC - European University Centre for Cultural Heritage, Ravello - Italy CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid - Spain Orme dell'Uomo - Footsteps of Man, Valcamonica - Italy Asociación Cultural Colectivo Barbaón, Extremadura -Spain Liège University - Belgium Gotland University - Sweden University College Dublin - Ireland CeSMAP - Centro Studi e Museo d'Arte Preistorica. Pinerolo, Italy Arqueo Jovem

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