TRACCE 29
# 29 – Mar 2013
TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin 29
special equinox issue: Mt. Bego research history
––––––––––––––––––> by Footsteps of Man
edited by Le Orme dell’Uomo (Valcamonica – I)
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| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Archive for TRACCE Onl. RA Bull. 29
Mount Bego, XIX century research history
Bego 1887 tracing
Issue 29 of TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin is dedicated to the research history of Mt. Bego, from its early “discovery” to the end of the 19th century, with the exception of Clarence Bicknell’s work. Two key points should be emphasized: the relationship with the development of paleethnology and the significance of British “cup-and-rings” studies. All early Mt. Bego authors virtually contribute to this issue since their papers are “served” online, not only as PDF files, but also as “flip-books”, giving in this way importance to sources and online e-book sharing since they provide a useful tool to all researchers interested in rock art studies, especially in this area of the Alps.
by Andrea Arcà (Footsteps of Man – IIPP)
Corografia delle Alpi Marittime (Gioffredo 1660, 1839)
Gioffredo 1660 (1839)
TRACCE free e-books
Gioffredo P., 1839 [~1660]. Storia delle Alpi Marittime, corografia, libro I, in Storia delle Alpi Marittime di Pietro Gioffredo libri XXVI, Torino, capo XIII
| full text-image PDF (from Google Books, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: the first written news of the Laghi delle Meraviglie (Marvels Lakes) – Mt. Bego – engraved rocks, printed edition (1839) of a manuscript compiled around 1660, based on a late 16th century relation]
by Pietro GIOFFREDO
Voyage aux alpes Maritimes (Foderé 1821)
Fodéré 1821
TRACCE free e-books
Foderé F. E., 1821. Voyage aux Alpes Maritimes, ou histoire naturelle, agraire, civile et médicale, du comté de Nice et pays limitrophes, Paris, pp. 18-19
| full text-image PDF (from Google Books, public domain) | French
[editor’s note: in this book it is possible to read the first few lines in French, regarding Mt. Bego’s rock carvings. Dans ce livre on peut lire la première mention imprimée en Français sur les gravures rupestres du Mont Bego]
by François-Emmanuel Foderé
The Meraviglie (Moggridge 1869)
1868 drawings
TRACCE free e-books
Moggridge M. 1869. The Meraviglie, in International Congress of prehistoric Archaeology, transactions of the Third Session, London, 359-362, 5 plates.
| full text-image PDF (from Google Books, public domain) | English
[editor’s note: this paper marking the scientific discovery of Mt. Bego’s petroglyphic complex – one of the two Alpine rock art poles – is due to an English botanist, member of the Italian Alpine Club]
by Matthew MOGGRIDGE, F.G.S. (Fellow of the Geological Society of London)
Sculptures préhistoriques, Merveilles (Clugnet 1877)
1877 relevés
TRACCE free e-books
Clugnet Léon, 1877. Sculptures préhistoriques situées sur les bords du lacs des Merveilles (au sud-est du col de Tende, Italie), pp. 379-387.
| full text-image flip book and PDF (from Gallica – BnF, public domain) | French
[editor’s note: research history, In this paper, the first French work, the author, a librarian from Lyon, supports the idea that the engravings were made by shepherds or hunters; detailed plates]
by Léon CLUGNET
Une excursion aux Lacs des Merveilles (Henry 1877)
Henry 1887
TRACCE free e-books
Henry [M.] 1877. Une excursion aux Lacs des Merveilles près Saint-Dalmas-de-Tende, Annales de la Société des lettres, science et arts des Alpes-Maritimes, t. IV, pp. 185-205
| full text-image PDF (from Gallica-BNF, public domain) | French
[editor’s note: The author thinks that the Mt. Bego engravings are natural rocks marking made by the glaciers; no scholar agreed with him]
by [M.] HENRY
Étude sur les sculptures préhistoriques (Blanc 1878)
Blanc 1878
TRACCE free e-books
Blanc E., 1878. Étude sur les sculptures préhistoriques du Val d’Enfer près des Lacs des Merveilles, pp. 72-87, 1 pl. h.t.
| full text-image PDF (from Gallica – BnF, public domain) | French
[editor’s note: in this paper, the author, a librarian from Nice, supports the idea that the engravings were the result of the cult of some malevolent deity, terrifying generator of lightning and thunder]
by Edmond Blanc
Gravures sur roches, Lacs des Merveilles (Rivière 1879)
1879 tracings
TRACCE free e-books
Rivière E., 1879. Gravures sur roches des lacs des Merveilles au val d’Enfer (Italie), in Association française pour l’avancement des sciences, Paris, pp. 783-793, I tav.
| full text-image PDF (from Gallica – BnF,, public domain) | French
[editor’s note: this paper better details the French scientific discovery of Mt. Bego’s petroglyphic complex and it is due to the physician and archaeologist Émile Rivière, devoted to the study of the Palaeolithic]
by Émile RIVIÈRE
Iscrizioni simboliche preistoriche (Navello 1884)
Navello 1884
TRACCE free e-books
Navello S. 1884. Iscrizioni simboliche preistoriche dei laghi delle meraviglie nelle Alpi Marittime, Memoria Navello, pp. 16-21, 2 tavv.
| full text-image PDF (from TRACCE scan-OCR, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: the first Italian detailed paper, presented to the Alpine Club’s congress, “translates” the contents expressed by L. Clugnet as well as re-drawing his plates]
by Serafino NAVELLO (representing the International Alpine Club of Nizza)
Iscrizioni simboliche, Lago delle Meraviglie (Prato 1884)
1884, CAI logo
TRACCE free e-books
Prato A. F. 1884. Sulle iscrizioni simboliche del Lago delle Meraviglie, Rivista Alpina Italiana, Periodico mensile del Club Alpino Italiano, 9, 30 settembre 1884, pp. 97-98.
| full text-image PDF (from TRACCE scan-OCR, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: in this short paper, published in the Italian Alpine Club review, the author suggests that the Marvels Lakes engravings where made to celebrate hunters with their preys, who died in this area]
by A. Filippo PRATO
Alpi Marittime. Escursioni ai monti… Bego (Ghigliotti 1884)
1884, CAI logo
TRACCE free e-books
Ghigliotti F. 1884. Alpi Marittime, Escursioni ai monti, Bollettino del Club Alpino Italiano, 1884, pp. 225-261.
| full text-image PDF (from TRACCE scan-OCR, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: here an accurate report of a mountaineering ascent to the Mt. Bego summit, with a visit to the rock engravings and the first mention of the well-known Latin inscription “Hoc qui scripsit…”]
by A. Felice GHIGLIOTTI (member of the Italian Alpine Club)
I laghi delle Meraviglie e Fontanalba (Celesia 1886)
Fontanalba 1886
TRACCE free e-books
Celesia E., 1886. Escursioni alpine, I. – I laghi delle Meraviglie, II. – Fontanalba, estratto Boll. uff. Min. pubblica istr., fasc. V, maggio 1886, 27 pp., 4 tavv.
| full text-image PDF (TRACCE 2013 re-editing, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: Here the discovery of the Fontanalba area, 68 figures in two plates. The first Italian academic paper on Mt. Bego’s engravings, due to the literatus E. Celesia, who suggests that the engravings were made by the Phoenicians]
by Emanuele CELESIA
Le rupi scolpite delle Alpi Marittime (Issel 1901)
Fontanalba picture
TRACCE free e-books
Issel A. 1901. Le rupi scolpite nelle alte valli delle Alpi Marittime, Bullettino di paletnologia italiana, s. III, t. VII, a. XXVII, n. 10-12, pp. 218-259.
| full text-image PDF (from TRACCE scan-OCR, public domain) | Italian
[editor’s note: the most detailed paper until that time on Mt. Bego’s engravings; Issel never recorded the engraved rocks, but attentively examined the literature and was in close and friendly contact with C. Bicknell]
by Arturo ISSEL
