Arte preistorica in Valtellina
Emmanuel Anati; Archivi 1, I ed. it., 1967; II ed., 1968, 170 pp., 81 ill.

In this book the author tries to go deep into the meaning of the monumental stelae of Valtellina and of other similar monuments of far and near regions. The studied monoliths are composed of assemblages of pictograms and ideograms, endowed with a particular ideologic and religious meaning. The main symbols represented are analysed one by one, trying to establish the chronology of the monuments, to reconstruct their origins and the evolution of concepts, representations and ideas emerging from them. One of the subject is the possible connection between the monumental stelae of the Alps and other elements of ideology and religion belonging to cultures of Indo-European character. These monuments give new data of great historical value about the origins and the first developments of the concepts illustrated by them at the beginning of the age of Metals. (out of stock)

Arte preistorica nelle regioni occidentali della Penisola Iberica
Emmanuel Anati; Archivi 2, I ed., 1968, 126 pp., 143 ill.

This volume analyses rock engravings of Spanish Galizia and Portugal, tracing a stylistic evolution and a chronology and collocating the discussed rock art cycle in the general frame of European prehistory. We are surprised by the ideological-intellectual history of the people who left us this marvellous documentation of their interior life. The changes, their causes and the succession of new and imaginative ideas allow to better understand the spiritual adventures of a human group, for some millennia, until the entrance into history. This work, published in 1968, is considered to be a classic which has put the basis for following researches. (€. 20,00)

Les chars préhistoriques du Valcamonica
M. Van Berg-Osterrieth; Archivi 3, I ed., 1972, 127 pp., ill.

I pugnali nell’arte rupestre
Emmanuel Anati; Archivi 4, I ed., 1972, 107 pp., ill.

Hazorea  I
Emmanuel Anati, M. Avnimelech, N. Haas, E. Meyerhof; Archivi 5, I ed., 1973, 118 pp., ill.

Evoluzione e Stile / Evolution and Style / Evolution et Style
Emmanuel Anati; II ed. it., 1982 (esaurito); I ed. ing, 1976; I ed. fr., 1978, 182 pp., ill.

Le stele villanoviane di Bologna
F. Meller Padovani; Archivi 7, I ed., 1977, 100 pp., ill.

Luine, collina sacra
Emmanuel Anati con appendici di A. Horowitz e A. Mancini; Archivi 8, I ed., 1982, 235 pp., ill.

I siti a plaza di Har Karkom
Emmanuel Anati; Archivi 9, I ed., 1987, 240 pp., ill.

L’arte rupestre del Pià d’Ort
Umberto Sansoni e Silvana Gavaldo; Archivi 10, I ed., 1995, 197 pp, ill.

Toponomastica in Valcamonica e in Lombardia / Toponymy in Valcamonica and Lombardy
Claudio Beretta; Archivi 11, I ed. it e ing., 1997, 240 pp., 23 tavv., 70 ill.

Simboli sulla roccia
Umberto Sansoni, Silvana Gavaldo e Cristina Gastaldi; Archivi 12, I ed. it., 1999, 216 pp., 318 ill.

Gobustan, Azerbaijan
Emmanuel Anati con i contributi di D. N. Rustamov, F. Muradova and M. N. Faradjeva; Archivi 13, ed. multilingue, 2001, 95 pp., 69 ill.

In the course of hundreds of centuries, the Gobustan, a province of Azerbaijan, was a great centre of rock art. This gateway of Europe, between the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea, was a major route for migrations and transitions from Asia to Europe. The great importance of Gobustan rock art lies in its extremely long sequence: over 30,000 years. Showing influence from, and connections with both Europe and the Near East, the various phases of rock art illustrate the movements of cultures and ideas and are shedding new light on the early movement of Homo sapiens. The high quality of design and stylisation present new chapters in the history of art. A new history of Europe is emerging. (out of stock)

Il segno minore
Umberto Sansoni, Alberto Marretta, Salvatore Lentini; Archivi 14, I ed. it., 2001, 240 pp. 192 ill.

This book presents the corpus of rock engravings, mostly not figurative, in the zone of Pisogne-Piancamuno. The historical-geographical frame valorize the peculiarity of this region, the concentration of the most southern schematic art in the alpine zone, a link between the Prealps and the plain of Po river. The geological factor is taken into consideration and a special attention is paid to documents which can help to understand the characteristics of the zone: historical sources, traditions and folklore, social and economic models, the presence of particular activities of subsistence such as mining and grindstones production. (€. 20,00)

Grevo. Alla scoperta di un territorio fra acheologia e arte rupestre
Serena Solano e Alberto Marretta (a cura di); Archivi 15, I ed. it., 2004, 176 pp., ill.

The territory of the commune of Grevo (Brescia) presents several archaeological findings, that are evidence of the deep link between man and his territory. The cup-mark is the most widespread and perhaps the most ancient sign that man has left on the rock. The rock art of Grevo is not only schematic: there are findings of figurative art, a fragment with an etruscan inscription, and above al! the calcolithic site of Campolungo where two undamaged stelae and two Jragments have been Jound. This is an important finding, of immense historic value, that places Grevo in the wider scene of the European calcolithic sites. (out of stock)

The civilization of the rocks. Valcamonica, a history of Europe
Emmanuel Anati; Archivi 16, III ed. it., 2008, I ed. ingl., 2008; 336 pp., 297 ill.

The 300.000 prehistoric images engraved on the rocks of  Valcamonica, in the Lombard Alps, represent the major concentration of rock art in Europe. It is the first italian site declared by the UNESCO "World Cultural Heritage”. After having unearthed them, cleaned them up, documented and analysed them for more than 40 years, the author now presents them as historical documents, records of their times. With new methods of comparative exegesis, 10.000  years of history come back to life to reveal unknown aspects of the origins of Europe. It is the discovery of the largest archives that the ancient inhabitants of the continent have left. It is a turning point in the methodology of archaeological research. (out of stock)

Il Masso di Penn, la rocca di Corno e altri nomi preistorici
Claudio Beretta; Archivi 17, I ed. it. e ingl., 2005; 112 pp., 39 ill.

Lucus rupestris. Sei millenni d’arte rupestre a Campanine di Cimbergo
Edited by Umberto Sansoni and Silvana Gavaldo; Archivi 18, I ed. it., 2009; 416 pp., ill., tavv.

L’arte rupestre di Foppe di Nadro Vol. 1: catalogo delle rocce incise
Tiziana Cittadini (edited by); Archives 19, I ed. it., 2017; 168 pp., ill., tavv.

Foppe di Nadro, the heart of the Rock Art Natural Reserve of Ceto, Cimbergo and Paspardo, is characterized by a high density of engraved rocks that testify the constant human attendance of this place over the millennia: from the Neolithic to the Metal Age and the figurative exploits of the Iron Age, which in this area is expressed by themes, subjects and scenes among the most fascinating of the whole Camunian rock-art. This first volume presents descriptions and catalogs of rocks n. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 44, 45, 60, 85. Inside, you can find a set of articles on the history of the research, a methodological premise and an analysis of the archives of the Centro Camuno. This book is the result of a comparative research work between the photographic archive, the collection of the historic relief and the notebook of the original excavations. The book is available only in Italian (€ 22,00).

The volume is available in .pdf format - go to the dedicated page

Studi per la lettura dell'arte rupestre
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 27, I ed. italiana, 2008; 96 pp., ill. (€ 15,00)

Capire l'arte rupestre
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 26, I ed. italiana, 2003; 128 pp., ill. (€ 15,00)

Introduzione all'arte preistorica e tribale
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 25, I ed. italiana, 2003; 128 pp., ill.

99% of our history of human beings, since the first artistic testimonies, in the last 50,000 years, has been composed of tribal remains of not urban and illiterate societies, with a simple social organization, which did not create monuments. These 50,000 years keep the testimonies of our roots, “cathedrals” of rock shelters, caves, rock surfaces, where our ancestors left graphic marks of their memories, myths and adventures. This immense artistic heritage is the main testimony of the history of man, of our history before writing and it has to be documented not to lose its memory. (€ 15,00)

Arte rupestre: una rassegna regionale
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 24, I ed. italiana, 2003; 176 pp., ill.

In this book on prehistoric and tribal art, the interest is mostly focused on rock art, that is paintings and engravings made on rock surfaces in the open air and in caves. They allow to follow stylistic sequences with chronological information, including prehistoric and ethnologic phases. The engravings are chronicles fixed on rock. For each region, a selection of the most representative zones illustrates the cultural evolution and the history of people which are considered to be without history because belonging to an age previous to writing. Every region illustrates a sequence of stylistic models of rock art, thus allowing to define both local features and common characteristics of each area. There are continuous discoveries and the immense heritage of prehistoric and tribal art known at the moment is only a part of what has survived of 50,000 years of artistic creation. The images known at present allow a vision of the intellectual development of man. Besides the vernacular features, the study of different regions reveals the guiding lines to understand the social and ethnical identity of the authors. (€ 15,00)

Lo stile come fattore diagnostico nell'arte rupestre preistorica
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 23, I ed. italiana, 2002; 112 pp., ill.

Our language and grammar are characterized by a division of the past into present perfect and simple past. This feature is typical of Homo sapiens and the two types of past are reflected also in prehistoric and tribal art. Such a distinction recurs for every people on the Earth, although with slight variants. The rock paintings and engravings created in caves and rock shelters during millennia, are sacred texts of history, containing the mysteries which gave birth to the beginnings of intellect. They have shown the presence of the two categories of “past” since the origins. The memory of the absolute past seems to be more ancient and more rooted than recent and contingent memory. Moreover, the presence of archetypes and paradigms involves a third memory that we could call biologic or primary, which comes from the subconscious. The changing presence of different types of memory is a relevant element as regards subjects and styles in prehistoric and tribal art, as reflections of the thought and the cognitive process of their authors. (€ 15,00)

La struttura elementare dell'arte
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 22, I ed. italiana, 2002; 96 pp., ill.

What has pushed man to become an artist? What does the art of beginnings reveal about the very nature of art, about this phenomenon that concerns the whole human race? Such questions concern not only archaeologists, but also sociologists, psychologists, semioticians, historians of art. Rock has been the first canvas of man, who has painted and engraved on rock walls since he was given the attribute of sapiens. He left his prints in the most remote corners of Earth. Today over 75 millions of prehistoric images are documented on rocks in the open air and in caves of 160 countries from 5 continents. Art is a mirror of the cognitive apparatus and the process of association and sublimation. What does this extraordinary proliferation of visual art show about the very essence of man? (€ 15,00)

The riddle of Mount Sinai. Archaeological discoveries at Har Karkom
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 21, I ed. inglese, 2001; 192 pp., ill.

What is the true history behind the biblical narration of the Exodus? Where is Mount Sinai? This book presents new archaeological evidence unearthed by the Italian Archaeological Expeditions at Har Karkom. Sanctuaries and altars located on the mountain and at its foot, as well as numerous remains of campsites, tell the hitherto unknown story of a sacred mountain in the heart of the desert of Exodus, which seems to reflect with surprising precision the events and conditions described to us, albeit in mythicised form, in the Old Testament. This mountain was a paramount cult site for the desert people over the course of millennia. The biblical narratives seem to refer to just one chapter in the history of this mountain, which appears to have been sacred even before the age of Moses. But the archaeological discoveries go far beyond this;  in opening up new areas to archaeological investigation the book provokes lively and enlightening discussion. This 200 page volume, which features a rich iconography of over 200 illustrations, also helps to clarify a major question: to what extent may we consider the biblical narrative as a source of historical documentation? (€ 15,00)

I resti umani in archeologia
di Francesca Bertoldi; vol. 19, I ed. italiana, 1997; 64 pp., ill.

Skeletal remains constitute the majority of human remains recovered during archaeological excavations. it is rarely possible to discover mummies, hair, and other parts of the human body. From their analysis and from that of other indicators such as the funerary typology, one can get details concerning the individual and the community he or she belonged to. The information gathered is wide, ranging from sex, age, physical and racial characteristics of the individuals, to diet, physical and working activities, stress indicators, pathologies and traumas, to possible genetic relationships with other individuals. From their examination and that of other elements such as the burial typology, one finds revealing indications about funerary rites, the care of the corpse and also about social behaviour and the social structure of the community. Francesca Bertoldi has succeeded in producing a short and useful vademecum: a basic introduction to the subject and also a handy field handbook. (€ 15,00)

Esodo fra mito e storia
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 18, I ed. italiana, 1997; 304 pp., ill.

Was Moses’epos myth or history? The biblical narration of the Exodus and the Mount Sinai revelation is a monumental literary work, which has been handed down for over two thousand years, after being transmitted orally for centuries. What really did happen during the Exodus? How was the monotheism born? Who were the desert populations which are remembered and with whom the Children of Israel met? Who were the characters dominating the scene and, firstly, who was Moses? What was the itinerary described in the Bible and is it possible to reconstruct it? The epos’ central episode is the Mount Sinai revelation. Any traces of this sacred mountain had been lost. The suggested site in the Saint Catherine monastery area is a Byzantine proposal that many scholars consider as baseless. New archaeological findings presented here have changed the focus of research, and have helped in proposing a reconstruction of the Exodus itinerary and its historical context. They reveal, besides the magnificent epos of the Bronze Age, what its true history was. (out of stock)

La vallée des Merveilles et les mythologie Indo-européennes
di Roland Dufrenne; vol. 17, I ed. francese, 1997; 220 pp., ill.

A new line of research has resulted in the decoding of some of the main engravings of Mount Bego in the French Maritime Alps. A comparative analysis with Vedic mythology has suggested connections to an Indo-European conceptualism and myths transmitted by the sacred Hindu books. Some engravings of the Chalcolithic period and the Bronze Age have now been decoded and begin to speak to us. This volume presents an advance in the study of rock art and gives important hints for the understanding of messages, which have up until now remained hermetic. It offers suggestions for multidisciplinary research and methods that reveal a new outlook to understand and read rock art. (out of stock)

Brescia preistorica
di Emmanuel Anati; vol. 16, I ed. italiana, 1995; 160 pp., ill.

In the territory of Brescia, the Camunian civilisation has developed its exuberant artistic creativeness. Around 3,000 BC, from this “periphery”, began the Indo-European ideology and since then this area has been the cradle of European civilisation. It was an important area of cultural and economical developments during the periods of Etruscan influence and later the Celts. It was the bridge between the two alpine sides and was the mother of the iron industry. But, in later prehistory, it always maintained its cultural aspects of periphery, and grew in distinction from the important cultural centres both south and north of the alpine arc. For the first time here, the cultural evolution of Brescia’s territory, from prehistory to history, is told in a complete, deep and unique study of the archaeological and artistic heritage. Rock art is here synchronised to the finds of excavations, to obtain an outline of the period. It is the history of Europe that appears from the events of this marginal region, rich in archaeological finds, to which we add the figurative narration of the engraved stones. Man’s history before the written word reveals to us our species’ spirit: a curious explorer, who has been capable of maintaining a balance with his fellow men and with nature. We have received a great heritage on which we can build our future. (Free view)

Les racines de la culture
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 15, I ed. francese, 1995, 220 pp., ill.

From the Preface by Yves Coppens
This book is a history book. And the history told here by Emmanuel Anati is the extraordinary history of Culture, this particular environment created by our zoological family – the Hominids. The emerging of the religious and moral consciousness, the development of emotion and thought, of reason and imagination, the appearance of the intellectual expression and of the artistic creation, the growth of technology, the multiplication and the organization of societies, the enrichment and the varieties of languages have produced, little by little, this great metamorphosis of an animal ancestor, into a human descendant. And the conclusion is clear: it is culture which has given man his soul. (out of stock)

La religione delle origini
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 14, I ed. italiana, 1995, 144 pp., ill.

Are the religions of the historical epoch expressions of different origins, or rather are all religions a product of the same matrix? There is some evidence of religious activity even before the appearance of Homo Sapiens, and these manifestations, which were further developed with the emergence of our direct ancestors, can be defined as the religion of origins because from there developed all subsequent religious thoughts and concepts. Such assertions propose answers to some problems while at the same time spurring new ones. One unavoidable question regards the mental mechanism of transmission and elaboration of basic concepts. Is it possible to refer back to the anatomy of a primary matrix of religious thought? Is it possible to understand the motivations behind the attitudes which man exhibits on a global level, and which have formed the elemental structure of religious behaviour? Today we can ask ourselves questions raised by new discoveries, questions that even yesterday we could not have conceived. The archaeological discoveries of the last few years allow us to compare the problems of the origins of religion with an abundance of contextual data that has never been available before. (€ 15,00)

VALCAMONICA ROCK ART. A new history for Europe
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 13, I ed. inglese, 1994; II ed. italiana, 1995, 208 pp., ill.

When Valcamonica rock art was recognised by UNESCO in the “World Cultural Heritage” list, making it the first Italian site to receive such an honour, many people wondered why. Works and places which are much better known throughout the world in texts of art and history, such as Venice with her canals, the Last Supper by Leonardo in Milan, or the historical centre of Rome, were only later added to the list. The judicial committee, composed of representatives from over 60 countries, recognised that while other monuments are expressions of glory or of national identity, Valcamonica rock art gives testimony to 10,000 years of history, 8,000 of which, predating the rise of Rome, were practically ignored by modern research. As of now, no other single source offers a similar quantity of data on the history of Europe and the origins of European civilisation. Why just here, in Valcamonica, have we found an almost unbroken narration of the daily life and spiritual explorations of an ancient culture that thrived from the end of the last glacial age to the time of the Roman Conquest.(Free view)

WORLD ROCK ART. The primordial language
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni, vol. 12, I ed. inglese, 1993; I ed. italiana, 1994; 200 pp., ill.

In 1983 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) commissioned a World Report on the State of Research in Rock Art, the paintings and engravings in caves and on rock surfaces. After 10 years, in 1993, another State of Research in Rock Art was commissioned by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). This book presents the main evaluations and messages of these two world reports and beyond, getting to the meaning of symbols, explaining the main types of syntax in rock art and looking at the future, analysing what the uses of research in rock art may be and how rock art is contributing to world culture. (€ 15,00)

Har Karkom In the light of new discoveries
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni, vol. 11, I ed. italiana, 1994; I ed. inglese, 1993; 96 pp., 89 ill.

In 1954, an important rock art concentration was discovered, located on a mountain in the Negev Desert, in Israel. In 1980, an archaeological expedition started, and it is still going on. It was suddenly clear that Har Karkom had been a special mountain in the past. In 1983, after four years of research, there was enough material to propose an identification of this mountain with the Mount Sinai of the Bible. The publications of La Montagne de Dieu: Har Karkom (Paris, 1986) and of I Siti a Plaza di Har Karkom (Capo di Ponte, 1989) give information about the archaeological discoveries until 1985. The works have progressed since then, revealing new testimonies. During that period, 500 sites had been explored; today they are about 1.000. These sites cover a time range which goes from the Palaeolithic to the Islamic period. Har Karkom, with its 40.000 rock engravings, contains the most important rock art concentration in the Negev and in the Sinai. In 1992, the discovery of a 40.000-year-old sanctuary allowed new considerations about the role of this mountain. The 1993 expedition revealed new aspects. Geoglyphs, or drawings of large dimensions executed with pointed stones, were found on the mountain. (€ 15,00)

L'altipiano di Ossimo-Borno nella preistoria. Ricerche 1988-1990
di Francesco Fedele; Studi Camuni, vol. 10, II ed. italiana 1990; 359 pp., 236 ill.

The discovery of three new statue menhirs in Ossimo at the beginning of 1988 gave the opportunity to excavate and study the Copper age sites on the Ossimo-Borno plateau. Ceremonial centres were discovered, belonging to Copper age cultures, IV-III millennium B.C. This volume presents the main results of researches carried out from 1988 to 1990. The  third part presents the  systematic file-card and the analysis of 17 statue menhirs of the Ossimo-Borno plateau, according to the knowledge of 1988. It is a study of iconography, association and distribution of graphems. Each monument or part of monument is described and analysed according to type, technique and spatial relationships of the observed symbols. The results are relevant for a reconstruction of Copper age cultures in the Alps and of religious expressions during the IV and III millennium B.C. in relation to statue menhirs cult. (€ 15,00)

L'arte rupestre di Sellero
di Umberto Sansoni; Studi Camuni, vol. 9, I ed. italiana, 1987; 112 pp., 97 ill.

This monographic work describes the discovery of an area of great interest in the frame of Camunian rock art. It is the most northern artistic concentration with figurative objects in Valcamonica, involving cupmarks as well. Sellero seems to be the common area of some expressions, connected during some phases, with a different iconography. Sellero does not show “peripheral” features; on the contrary, a note of originality emerges from the choice of the subjects or from the syntax of associations. It is an example of systematic description of a rock area showing, besides the discovery itself, the canons of a strict methodology. (€ 15,00)

10mila anni di storia in Valcamonica
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 8, IV ed. italiana, 1990; 144 pp., ill.

The human adventure revealed by the discoveries in Valcamonica allows the passage through ten millennia in the heart of Europe. The historical sequence of Camunian people appears as the symbol of a history involving wide areas and reflecting the evolution during the formation of European civilization. Valcamonica rock engravings are an essential element in this research. They have provided an extraordinary quantity of information about their authors. Through the subjects represented in different periods, through the changes emerging from compositive and associative concepts, it is possibile to go back to the reasons, starting from the effect and arriving to the cause. This work is a revised version of a previous volume of the same collection “Origini della Civiltà Camuna”. This book is used for training and study, both in Universities and in compulsory education. (Free view)

Methods of recording and analysing rock engravings
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 7, II ed. italiana, 1976; I English ed., 1977; 64 pp., ill.

This volume describes the methods of tracing of engraved rocks developed at the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici in the ‘60s and ‘70s. It gives a general theoric base for methods of tracing and analysis, which accompany practical field experience. Concerning all the aspects of tracing and analysis, theorical notions are not enough. The volume describes the steps to be followed in a simple and schematic way, showing how to face the particular aspects of each rock. The section Interpretation and synthesis summarizes the essential elements mentioned during the analysis. The author explains the implications which constitute new factors, in comparison with each previous problem. The tracing and analysis lead to the formulation of the meaning of research and to its access to a large public.

L’art préhistorique du Périgord
di Max Sarradet; Studi Camuni 6, I ed. francese, 1975; 80 pp., ill.

The Périgord covers an important place in the discoveries of Palaeolithic art in the Franco-cantabrian area, both for the quality of works and for the concentration of decorated caves and objects. The author, who was the Director of Antiquities of Périgord, describes the state of researches during the period in which the book was published. Since then, thanks to new discoveries, research has progressed also from a conceptual perspective. This volume is a historical testimony of the state of research in the period of its publication. (Free view)

I Massi di Cemmo
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 5, II ed. italiana, 1972; 75 pp., ill.

Monograph on two monumental rock art stones. It is an important didactic instrument for the study of rock stratigraphy and for the typological analysis of the engraved surfaces. These two monuments were published by some authors many times in the past, but without reaching the specific, stratigraphic, chronological and conceptual vision which is revealed in this volume. This was possible thanks to methods of structural planning which have transformed the study of rock art into a scientific discipline. (Free view)

Arte preistorica in Anatolia
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni 4, II ed. italiana, 1972; 50 pp., ill.

The monographic study contained in this volume follows the steps of rock art and mobile art in Anatolia, from the finds of the late Palaeolithic to the rock art of the age of Metals. The superimpositions of different artistic phases allow to trace the stylistic evolution. Starting from a group of the late Palaeolithic, rock art of Anatolia shows large and static animal figures; later, it develops with smaller and more schematic representations, where human figure grows in importance and descriptive scenes are introduced. Moreover, there is a figurative episode revealing contacts or connections with the world of the Scyths. The same general evolution, with local variants, is followed by other rock art groups in the Near East and in the Mediterranean area. (Free view)

Origini della civiltà camuna
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni, vol. 3

10.000 years of history in Europe are reflected in the archaeological discoveries of an alpine valley. Homo sapiens lived in the Alps when the glaciers of the Pleistocene receded, between 14,000 and 12,000 years ago. The oldest rock engravings known in Valcamonica were created by archaic hunters and they are dated to the first phases of the Holocene. During the Neolithic period real settlements began. The material culture is the one spread on a wide area in central Europe, while rock engravings acquire the characteristics of religions and local traditions. During the Eneolithic period, in the late IV millennium B.C., rock engravings show a moment of great interest: the birth of a new religion. Elements of ideologic and religious character link one another several ancient populations, whose descendants spoke Indo-European languages. Art, ideology and the religious concepts were important elements. Thanks to them, it was possible to go back to the Indo-European cultural and historical chain. The language was only one of the elements which linked these human groups. Today we can speak of a real Indo-European ideology, characterized by artistic, conceptual and religious elements. The study of the origins of the Camunian civilization has raised another problem: the place of origin and first development of this ideology, which had to spread over wide areas of at least two continents. (Free vieew)

La datazione dell'arte rupestre camuna
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni, vol. 2, II ed. italiana, 1976; 88 pp., ill.

When were Valcamonica rock engravings created? A first answer to this question is proposed by this work, contested in the period of its publication. In the beginning, the Celts or the Ligurians were thought to be the authors of Valcamonica rock engravings, in the last centuries B.C. With the proposal of a typological stratigraphy of several millennia, this volume has been a healthy provocation, thus marking the beginning of a new vision and a new methodology. It was a forerunner of the structural analysis in prehistoric art. The proposals and the hypotheses turned out to be right, paving the way to historical reconstruction through rock art. The value of this work lays above all in its historical role of innovating methodologies and philosophy of archaeological research. (Free view)

Capo di ponte centro dell'arte rupestre camuna
di Emmanuel Anati; Studi Camuni, vol. 1, X ed. italiana, 1981 (Free view); III ed. tedesca, 1987; II ed. inglese, 1987; I ed. francese, 1981; 62 pp., 44 ill.

This volume, whose aim was to guide and help the visitor, has raised a debate which has grown, reaching wider and wider fields. By now, Capo di Ponte is a classic book of the little Camunian world. It has been used as a manual in Universities and Research Institutes, in Italy and abroad, but above all it has entered schools, hundreds of houses in Valcamonica and it has been read by thousands of amateurs of the subject in far and near regions. (€. 5,00)

Gli antichi Camuni. Kit didattico
di Giancarlo Maculotti, Ica Abondio, Guido Cenini, Tiziana Cittadini, Valeria Damioli, Alessio Domenighini, Liliana Fassa, Maurilio Grassi, Valerio Moncini, Gemma Pe, Rosa Pedersoli; I ed. Italina, 2011; 128 pp., ill. e schede didattiche

Il castello dei federici di Gorzone. Guida storico-artistica
a cura di Federico troletti; I ed. italiana, 2016; 48 pp., ill.

Handy guide on Federici's castel of Gorzone

Valcamonica rock art parks
di Alberto Marretta e Tiziana Cittadini; I ed. italiana, 2010; 184 pp., ill.

Handy guide on Valcamonica rock-art and her 8 rock-art parks.
More than fifty areas with rock art have been discovered In Valcamonica, places which have had for prehistoric people a deep religious and social significance.
After millennia those rocks continue to talk to modern man about the links between past and present. (€. 10,00)

Il Parco comunale archeologico e minarario di Sellero. Guida ai percorsi di visita
di Umberto Sansoni, Tiziana Cittadini, Manuela Zanetta; I ed. italiana, 2009; 64 pp., ill.

Handy guide on Sellero archaeological and mining park

La riserva naturale incisioni rupestri di Ceto, Cimbergo e Paspardo. Guida ai percorsi di visita
di Alberto Marretta, Tiziana Cittadini, Angelo Fossati; I ed. italiana, 2007; 128 pp., ill.

Handy guide on Rock-art Natural reserve of Ceto, Cimbergo and Paspardo (€. 10,00)

Arte rupestre della Valcamonica
di Tiziana Cittadini; III ed. italiana, 1994; 64 pp., ill.

Handy guide on Valcamonica rock-art (€. 3,00)

Valcamonica stone images
edited Tiziana Cittadini, Cristina Gastaldi, Alberto Marretta, Umberto Sansoni; EDIZIONI SKIRA - english and italian edition, I ed., 2012; 108 pp., ill.

Settled in the current Valcamonica for over 12,000 years ago, the ancient inhabitants have left behind them thousands of figures carved into the rock, which reflect the life of a population with a well-organized socio-political structure and a surprising cultural and artistic structure. From the semi-nomadic hunters of the post-glacial period up to the Iron Age, humans have engraved their myths, their life and history in every period. It is one of the largest concentrations of rock art in the world and the largest in Europe, and the first Italian World Heritage Site, as stated by UNESCO in 1979. (€ 15,00)

PITOTI digital rock art from prehistoric Europe: heritage, film, archaeology
Edited by Christopher Chippendale and Frederick Baker, pictures di Hamish Park. Ed. Skira.
1st ita./eng. ed., 2012, 120 pp., ill.

Valcamonica preistorica. Un patrimonio dell'umanità
di Alberto Marretta; I ed. italiana, 2009; 112 pp., ill.

Catalogue of the exhibition held in the historic occasion of the centenary of the first report of the petroglyphs of Valcamonica (1909), the thirtieth anniversary of the inclusion in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site (1979) and 45 years since the founding of CCSP.(€. 10,00)

40000 anni di arte contemporanea / 40000 ans d'art contemporain
a cura di Emmauel Anati; I ed. italiana, 2000 (out of stock); I ed. fr, 2003; 288 pp., ill.

Europe is looking for its unity, the last chapter of a history which saw allies and wars, friendship and hate during 2,000 years. The chronicle of these two millennia is summarized in books, whose contents change according to the different countries, adjusting to national pride and to the indoctrination tendencies for new generations. According to the scholastic conception, in Europe, before the Romans, there were the “Barbarians”. In the middle of the first millennium B.C. they had already created the roots of a geopolitical structure which would appear again in the Middle Ages. Political and ethnic entities such as the Etruscans, the Celts, the Gauls, the Ligures, the Iberians or the Illyrians, had given Europe the basis of its cultural identities. But what was there before the formation of these cultures? What has been the history of Europe since the beginning, since the period of the groups of mammoth hunters until the formation of these political entities? The answer to these questions is the subject of the book. (€. 40,00)

Tapa Tapa
di Emmanuel Anati; I ed. italiana, 1997; 64 pp., ill.

A collection of valuable “cloths” from Oceania made of beaten tree bark is accompanied by old photographs (1920-1923) in which the same tapas appear in their daily use as cloths, mats and blankets. The tapas are the last expressions of a prehistoric tradition: probably the oldest kind of fabric ever made by man. The paintings made on this “vegetable felt” are often masterpieces, mainly expressions of female creativity. They reflect tribal tastes and styles.they are of special graphic relevance to us and constitute a source of inspiration for Western culture. Besides contemporary artists, designers also draw ideas from the harmony of early graphics reflecting  avant-garde taste. Their signs and motifs raise a sense of curiosity towards their wit and messages. They mainly express propitiatory auspices for land and sea fertility, woman’s fertility, luck, plenty and love, they express also an assertion of ethnic and tribal identity. (€. 10,00)

Helan Shan. L'arte rupestre della Cina
di Emmanuel Anati; I ed. italiana, 1994; 64 pp., ill.

Chinese rock art reveals the story of marginal peoples, adding a new dimension to our knowledge of Chinese history. From remote times up until the tribal populations, who still today maintain their identity with their territory, we can read a plot which unfolds over 12,000 years and which develops alongside the parallel Chinese history of dynasties and emperors. In this story, the rock art of Helan Shan is of particular significance. Of all its wonders, its contribution to the knowledge of mask-like forms, prevalent in the Neolithic period, is most noteworthy. Also important is the presence of one style in particular, that of the Scythian influence, between 1,200 and 300 B.C. Furthermore, this frontier mountain chain, between Inner Mongolia and NingXia, has been from immemorial time a place of meeting and clashes between nomads and sedentary peoples, between the inhabitants of the steppes and those of the great plains of the Yellow River. The Great Wall defines it on one side for hundreds of kilometres, while the rock art serves as testimony to the other side of the story, that of the hunters and farmers who subsisted for thousands of years on the borders of more fertile territories. (€. 10,00)