The name Valcamonica derives from the pre-Indoeuropean people named Camunni, who were conquered by Rome in 16 BC. Today it indicates the narrow, north/south trending valley in the Lombardy Alps, bounded on the south by Lago d’Iseo and cut in all its length by the river Oglio. This area not only boasts one of the world’s richest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs, or rock drawings, its landscape is incredibly beautiful.

This corner of Italy was the first one to enter the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979 because of the over 140,000 petroglyph artworks scattered throughout the valley. They are symbols and figures carved in the rock over a period of 8,000 years and depict themes connected with agriculture, navigation, war, and magic.