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28-622: A people of obscure origin, they lived in a region, the Val Camonica , that had already been the site of a cultural tradition dating back to the early Neolithic . The Camunni are mentioned by classical historiographical sources from the 1st century BC, corresponding to the Iron Age in Val Camonica (from the 12th century BC until about Romanization). In ancient Greek , Strabo referred to them as Καμοῦνοι ( Kamounoi ), while Cassius Dio called them Καμούννιοι ( Kamounnioi ). Conquered by Rome at

56-649: A city founded by the Romans around 23 BC, during the principate of Tiberius . Beginning in the 1st century, the Camunni were included in stable Roman political and social structures, as evidenced by the numerous legionaries , artisans, and even gladiators of Camunian origins in several areas of the Roman Empire . Camunian religion went through the process of interpretatio Romana , forming a syncretic combination with Roman religion . Camunian stone carvings, 70–80% of which date to

84-751: A few words long. The writing system used is a variant of the north-Etruscan alphabet , known as the Camunian alphabet or alphabet of Sondrio . Longer inscriptions show that Camunic writing used boustrophedon . Its name derives from the people of the Camunni , who lived during the Iron Age in Valcamonica and were the creators of many of the stone carvings in the area. Abecedariums found in Nadro and Piancogno have been dated to between 500 BC and 50 AD. The amount of material

112-629: A people called the Camunni , who were a Rhaetian tribe, populating the valley. About 300,000 petroglyphs survive from this period. By the end of the first century BC, the Valle Camonica was ruled by Ancient Rome , which established the city of Cividate Camuno , with baths, an amphitheater and a large temple dedicated to Minerva . During the Middle Ages , numerous clashes between the Guelphs and Ghibellines took place in this region. The Guelphs supported

140-402: Is insufficient knowledge about Camunic to be able to determine whether it belongs to a broader language family . Val Camonica Val Camonica or Valcamonica ( Eastern Lombard : Al Camònega ), also Valle Camonica and anglicized as Camonica Valley , is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps , in eastern Lombardy , Italy . It extends about 90 kilometres (56 mi) from

168-666: Is traversed by the River Oglio , the fifth longest river in Italy, which rises at Ponte di Legno from the confluence of the Frigidolfo and Narcanello rivers. It flows into Lake Iseo between the municipalities of Pisogne and Costa Volpino . Numerous streams, some of them seasonal, descend from the mountainsides and flow into the Oglio. At high altitude there are many alpine lakes, including Lago Moro, as well as many artificial reservoirs, such as

196-756: The Adamello Group . The battles fought in this area are known as the White War in the Adamello. In 1955, the National Park of Naquane stone carvings at Capo di Ponte was created by the Archaeological Administration of Lombardy . Val Camonica is home to the greatest complex of rock drawings in Europe , containing approximately 300,000 petroglyphs from the epipaleolithic era to the Middle Ages . Camonica

224-682: The Camunic alphabet , which is a variant of the North Etruscan alphabet. At the beginning of the 4th century BC, the Celtic Gauls arrived in Italy. Coming from Transalpine Gaul , they settled in the Po plain and came in touch with the Camunian population. Some of the petroglyphs in Valcamonica with figures of Celtic deities such as Kernunnos attest this Gaulish presence. Val Camonica was subjected to Rome during

252-1223: The Rhaetian peoples and related to the Lepontii (who according to Strabo were of Rhaetic stock, though modern linguists generally regard the Lepontic language as Celtic): Ἑξῆς δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἕω μέρη τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ τὰ ἐπιστρέφοντα πρὸς νότον Ῥαιτοὶ καὶ Ὀυινδολικοὶ κατέχουσι, συνάπτοντες Ἐλουηττίοις καὶ Βοίοις· ἐπίκεινται γὰρ τοῖς ἐκείνων πεδίοις. Οἱ μὲν οὖν Ῥαιτοὶ μέχρι τῆς Ἰταλίας καθήκουσι τῆς ὑπὲρ Οὐήρωνος καὶ Κώμου. Καὶ ὅ γε Ῥαιτικὸς οἶνος, τῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἰταλικοῖς ἐπαινουμένων οὐκ ἀπολείπεσθαι δοκῶν, ἐν ταῖς τούτων ὑπωρείαις γίνεται· διατείνουσι δὲ καὶ μέχρι τῶν χωρίων, δι' ὧν ὁ Ῥῆνος φέρεται· τούτου δ' εἰσὶ τοῦ φύλου καὶ Ληπόντιοι καὶ Καμοῦνοι. Οἱ δὲ Ὀυινδολικοὶ καὶ Νωρικοὶ τὴν ἐκτὸς παρώρειαν κατέχουσι τὸ πλέον· μετὰ Βρεύνων καὶ Γεναύνων, ἤδη τούτων Ἰλλυριῶν. Ἅπαντες δ' οὗτοι καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας τὰ γειτονεύοντα μέρη κατέτρεχον ἀεὶ καὶ τῆς Ἐλουηττίων καὶ Σηκοανῶν καὶ Βοίων καὶ Γερμανῶν. Ἰταμώτατοι δὲ τῶν μὲν Ὀυινδολικῶν ἐξητάζοντο Λικάττιοι καὶ Κλαυτηνάτιοι καὶ Ὀυέννωνες, τῶν δὲ Ῥαιτῶν Ῥουκάντιοι καὶ Κωτουάντιοι. Next, in order, come those parts of

280-514: The Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapassi, in the commune of Pisogne near Lake Iseo . It has an area of about 1,335 km (515 sq mi) and 118,323 inhabitants. The River Oglio runs through its full length, rising at Ponte di Legno and flowing into Lake Iseo between Pisogne and Costa Volpino . Almost all of the valley is included in the administrative territory of the province of Brescia , except for Lovere , Rogno , Costa Volpino and

308-578: The Triumplini , a people who were sold with their territory; and then the Camuni, and several similar tribes, each of them in the jurisdiction of its neighbouring municipal town. The Etruscans , already widespread in the Po Valley, had contacts with Alpine populations by the 5th century BC. Surviving traces of Etruscan cultural influence are recorded in the aforementioned rock art in over two hundred texts written in

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336-656: The Trophy of the Alps ( Tropaeum Alpium ), a Roman monument erected in 7–6 BC and located in the French town of La Turbie , whose frontal inscription named the conquered Alpine peoples: · GENTES ALPINAE DEVICTAE TRVMPILINI · CAMVNNI · VENOSTES · After the Roman conquest, the Camunni were annexed to the nearest cities in a condition of semi-subjection through the practice of adtributio , which allowed them to maintain their own tribal constitution while

364-501: The Vennoneti of Vinschgau . The Roman conquest is also mentioned by the Roman historian Cassius Dio writing in Greek: Καὶ γὰρ Καμμούνιοι καὶ Οὐέννιοι, Ἀλπικὰ γένη, ὅπλα τε ἀντήραντο καὶ νικηθέντες ὑπὸ Πουπλίου Σιλίου ἐχειρώθησαν. The Camunni and Vennoni, Alpine tribes, took up arms against the Romans, but were conquered and subdued by Publius Silius. This conquest was celebrated in

392-576: The Bronze Age, are thought to have held value for celebratory, commemorative, initiatory, and propitiatory rituals. The Sanctuary of Minerva , found at Spinera between Cividate Camuno and Breno in 1986, dates to the Roman period and was finely decorated with mosaics. The beginning of the Middle Ages coincided with the arrival of the Christian religion among the Camunni. The 4th and 5th centuries witnessed

420-600: The Camunni as one of several tribes of the Euganei : Verso deinde in Italiam pectore Alpium Latini iuris Euganeae gentes, quarum oppida XXXIIII enumerat Cato. ex iis Trumplini, venalis cum agris suis populus, dein Camunni conpluresque similes finitimis adtributi municipis Turning then to the side of the Alps which fronts Italy, we have the Euganean nations enjoying Latin rights, and of whom Cato enumerates thirty-four towns. Among these are

448-615: The Lago d'Arno. Val Camonica likely became habitable only around 15,000 years ago, at the end of last ice age , with the melting of the glacier that first carved out the valley. It is likely that the first humans visited the valley in epipaleolithic times, and appear to have settled by the Neolithic period. When the Ancient Romans extended their dominions north of the River Po , they encountered

476-548: The Val di Scalve, which belong to the province of Bergamo . Since 1979, the rock drawings located along the valley are a UNESCO World Heritage Site , while the entire valley became a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 2018. Val Camonica is derived from the Latin Vallis Camunnorum , "Valley of the Camunni ." Val Camonica can be divided into three main areas: The valley is bounded by these borders: Val Camonica

504-799: The approved wines of the Italic regions, is made in the foothills of the Rhaetic Alps ), and also extend as far as the districts through which the Rhenus runs; the Lepontii, also, and Camuni, belong to this stock. But the Vindelici and Norici occupy the greater part of the outer side of the mountain, along with the Breuni and the Genauni, the two peoples last named being Illyrians . All these peoples used to overrun, from time to time,

532-467: The beginning of the 1st century AD, the Camunni were gradually incorporated into the political and social structures of the Roman Empire as a self-governing polity called the Res Publica Camunnorum . They were granted Roman citizenship from the second half of the 1st century, with a rapid process of Latinization. The Greek historian Strabo (63/64 BC–ca. 24 AD) described the Camunni as part of

560-510: The campaigns of Augustus to conquer Raetia and the Alpine arc, conducted by his generals Nero Claudius Drusus and Tiberius (the future emperor) against the mountain peoples in 16–15 BC. Publius Silius Nerva , governor of Illyricum , was to complete the conquest of the eastern Alpine front, which reached from the valley of Como to Lake Garda (therefore including the Valcamonica), in addition to

588-619: The destruction of the ancient places of worship, with the destruction of statue menhirs in Ossimo and Cemmo and the burning of the Sanctuary of Minerva . Surviving traces of the language spoken by the Camunni are scarce and undeciphered. Among the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica there are some inscriptions written in the Camunic language , written in a northern variant of the Etruscan alphabet . There

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616-560: The discussion of whether it should be considered a pre–Indo-European or an Indo-European language has remained indecisive. Among several suggestions, it has been hypothesized that Camunic is related to the Raetic language from the Tyrsenian language family , or to the Celtic languages . The extant corpus is carved on rock. There are at least 170 known inscriptions, the majority of which are only

644-583: The dominant city became the administrative, judicial, and fiscal center. The city that the Camunni were assigned to was probably Brixia . At first they were assigned the status of peregrinus , and then they obtained Roman citizenship ; in the Flavian Age they were assigned to the Quirina tribe , while they maintained a certain self-government; in fact, a Res Publica Camunnorum has been recorded. Romanization proceeded from Civitas Camunnorum (Cividate Camuno),

672-616: The mountains that are towards the east, and those that bend round towards the south: the Rhaeti and the Vindelici occupy them, and their territories join those of the Elvetii and the Boii ; for their territories overlook the plains of those peoples. Now the Rhaeti reach down as far as that part of Italy which is above Verona and Comum (moreover, the "Rhaetic" wine, which has the repute of not being inferior to

700-911: The neighbouring parts, not only of Italy, but also of the country of the Elvetii, the Sequani, the Boii, and the Germani. The Licattii, the Clautenatii, and the Vennones proved to be the boldest warriors of all the Vindelici, as did the Rucantii and the Cotuantii of all the Rhaeti. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), citing the Origines of Cato the Elder (234–149 BC), spoke instead of

728-777: The power of the Bishop of Brescia and the papacy, while the Ghibellines sided with the Holy Roman Emperor . In 1287 the Val Camonica rebelled against control by Brescia and sided with the Visconti , lords of Milan , who extended their control over the area during the 14th century. From 1427 to 1454 there were numerous battles between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice for the control of

756-594: The valley. Ultimately the valley came under the control of Venice. During the following centuries, the civilian population grew and engaged in the iron trade. Val Camonica was separated from Venice after Venice was conquered by Napoleon in 1797. After the deposition of Napoleon, the area was controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire . In 1859, Val Camonica was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy . During World War I battle lines stretched along its eastern border, across

784-563: Was the first site in Italy included in UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1979 because of its unique symbols and more than 140,000 figures carved along 8,000 years on rocks. Camunic language The Camunic language is an extinct language that was spoken in the 1st millennium BC in Val Camonica , a valley in the Central Alps . The language is sparsely attested to an extent that makes any classification attempt uncertain—even

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