Rock Art of Umbria (Central Italy)

Paintings and Engravings

Rock art of Umbria (Central Italy)



Initial Discovery and Systematic Surveys (2000-2010)

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In this region, following the initial rock art discoveries at Riparo di Pale (Foligno, Perugia) and Riparo del Gabbio (Ferentillo, Terni) made in the late 1990s by the climber and artist Mr. Feliciano Benci of Foligno (Fig. 1), systematic surveys were conducted by the archaeologist Dr. Tommaso Mattioli (Fig. 2) in the early 2000s. These surveys resulted in the recording of ten new rock art sites, all but one featuring paintings. The detailed analysis was published in 2007 as a monographic volume of the 'Quaderni di Protostoria' series of the University of Perugia(1), curated by Prof. Gian Luigi Carancini. In 2012 a selection of the five most preserved and representative rock art sites of this region was published in the conference proceedings of the Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria of Florence (2). These selected painted rock art sites are Riparo di Pale (Foligno, Perugia), Riparo delle Formiche Rosse (Santa Anatolia di Narco, Perugia), Riparo del Gabbio (Ferentillo, Terni), Riparo delle Mummie (Ferentillo, Terni), and Riparo dello Schioppo (Scheggino, Perugia).

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Example of red colour rock art praying figure from Riparo di Pale in 2004: AMS dating indicates that the figure was painted between 5661±36 BCE 2σ and 1569±11 BCE 2σ
(photo by T. Mattioli)

- Original picture

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Among the painted sites, Riparo di Pale stands out. This is a small shelter features red figures of praying anthropomorphs, deliberately executed over some lines of rainwater seeping along cracks and joints in the vertical wall: AMS dating indicates that one praying figure was painted between 5661±36 BCE 2σ and 1569±11 BCE 2σ, roughtly spanning the Early Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (3). Riparo delle Formiche Rosse exhibits an intriguing spatial arrangement of pictograms (Fig. 4). Tree-like anthropomorphic motifs in black colour are depicted on the vertical walls on both sides of this small triangular fissure, while two schematic anthropomorphs, also in black, are depicted on the ground at the vertex of this crevice, at the innermost point of the rock shelter. One anthropomorph is incomplete, while the other features a T-shaped face and bird-like feet. Another noteworthy aspect of the rock art in this region is found in Riparo delle Mummie I, where the rock surface, decorated with black motifs (caprids, phi-shaped anthropomorphs, geometric symbols) was previously prepared with a layer of red ochre.

Riparo de Lo Schioppo rock art site by apenninerockart on Sketchfab

Riparo de Lo Schioppo rock art site (photo by Tommaso Mattioli



Recent limited progress in rock art research (2010-2020)

Another 20 years passed before new painted sites were found in Lazio. In the late 1970s, two local archaeology enthusiasts Antonio and Maurizio Panimolle (1948-) discovered Morra di Colecchia (Rocca Canterano, Rome). This site is a unique natural structure resembling a dolmen (Fig. 4), formed by large and irregular blocks of limestone collapsed from Mt. Cerasolo. The rock art primarily consists of numerous fine engravings depicting tree-shaped figures, phytomorphic motifs, and lines, possibly created during the Late Mesolithic(5).

Engraved figures and red painting of Morra di Colecchia, panel C (from Mattioli 2007)

Of particular interest is a phi-shaped figure painted in red ochre, superimposed onto the engravings of surface C, which was prominent in the 1980s but has since mostly disappeared. Based on superimposition and iconographic comparisons, this figure can be dated to the Neolithic age. In 1972, the cave explorers Vittorio Castellani and Giancarlo Guzzardi from Rome, while participating in a training session of the National Alpine Rescue Corps of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) conducted in the karst area of Grotte di Pastena (Pastena, Frosinone), documented several deep vertical linear incisions covered by carbonate concretions on the walls of the cave's fossil branch(6). Interestingly, in the same cave, a few years later in 1981, some paintings of bison and hunting scenes created as set decoration for a film shoot were mistaken, for a brief period, as authentic. These paintings were created, as also reported in the newspapers of the time (Fig. 5), by the director, mountaineer, and environmentalist Carlo Alberto Pinelli for a television series directed by the esteemed Italian documentary filmmaker Folco Quilici. Finally, in 1984 the questionable human figure depicted in black at Riparo Cristina (Terracina, Latina) was discovered by self-educated archaeologists Piero Cerelueo from Tivoli(7).

Morra di Colecchia natural dolmen-like structure (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)




Mr. Feliciano Benci, the first discoverer of rock art figures in Umbria, which he found in the early 2000s on a cliff near the town of Foligno
Fig. 1 - Mr. Feliciano Benci, the first discoverer of rock art figures in Umbria, which he found in the early 2000s on a cliff near the town of Foligno
from Facebook
Tommaso Mattioli
Fig. 2 - Archaeologist Tommaso Mattioli, the author of the first scientific analysis of the rock art figures of Umbria
photo by Tommaso Mattioli
Article from a local newspaper about the alleged - so far unverified - discovery of 'graffiti' inside a cave
Fig. 3 - Article from a local newspaper about the alleged - so far unverified - discovery of 'graffiti' inside a cave in the Valnerina area
from Corriere dell'Umbria 5 May 2000
Riparo delle Formiche Rosse rock art site
Fig. 4 - Spatial arrangement of the rock art depictions in the Riparo delle Formiche Rosse rock shelter
drawing by Tommaso Mattioli
Journal article about the fake rock art paintings in Grotte di Pastena
Fig. 5 - Newspaper article about the fake cave paintings of the cave of Pastena (Unknown local newpaper - 1981).
unknown local newspaper
Comparison among the anthropomorphs of Riparo di Grotti (1), Riparo Caprara 1 (2) and Fumane cave (3)
Fig. 6 - Comparison among the anthropomorphs of Riparo di Grotti (1), Riparo Caprara I (2) and Fumane cave (3).
modified by Tommaso Mattioli
Speleologist Paolo Forconi entering the upper entrance of Grotta Antica, artificially widened
Fig. 7 - Speleologist Mr. Paolo Forconi, the discovered of the rock art paintings of Grotta Antica, steps into the upper entrance of the cave, which has been artificially widened.
from Giorgio Pintus blog
Speleologists surveying the red paintings of Grotta dell'Arco di Bellegra in 2007
Fig. 8 - Speleologists from the Speleo Club Roma surveying the red paintings of Grotta dell'Arco di Bellegra in 2007, immediately following the discovery of the cave paintings.
by Tommaso Mattioli