Annunciata Rock Graffiti Park

The territory of the municipality of Piancogno is home to an important park of rock art and engravings of Valle Camonica (UNESCO site for rock art) near the Annunciata. In addition to the numerous engraved rocks discovered and studied by the archaeologist Ausilio Priuli in the 1980s in the area between the Annunciata Sanctuary and the Davine Valley, others have recently been added to the rocks along the edge of the Trobiolo gorge in Cogno.

This is the largest concentration of rock engravings in the Alps, characterising an extensive ‘sanctuary’ dominating the entire lower valley as far as Lake Iseo.

The engravings, masterfully executed with pointed tools on vertical walls of the Wengen formation, were mainly created between the 6th century BC and the 2nd century AD. These signs are of clear Camuni tradition and at the same time Celtic influence, such as the representation of the god Cernunnos, Etruscan and later Roman.

On the rocks it is easy to recognise scenes of deer and even wild boar hunting, among animal figures such as numerous horses. There are also several combat scenes between figures armed with swords or axes, as well as a large number of weaponry figures. These include knives, also in their scabbards, axes with expanded cutting edges, swords of different types, spears and javelin spikes and arrows, generally faithful reproductions of the real objects so that they can be easily placed in chronological order.

There are numerous symbols, such as the five-pointed star, generally associated with warriors, and other geometric shapes. Also of great importance is the presence of votive inscriptions and alphabetaries written in Etruscan characters adapted to the ancient Camuni language and archaic Latin inscriptions.
Research continues and every day reveals new important discoveries.