PARCO ARCHEOLOGICO COMUNALE DI SERADINA-BEDOLINA

The reserve, which can be reached from the village of Capo di Ponte, covers an area between 400 and 600 m above sea level. Subject to a particular exposure to the sun, the area is characterised by flora specific to warmer climates. Next to the typical trees of the middle valley, it is possible to admire some special species such as the Opuntia Compressa, a small prickly pear that with its purple fruits recalls the shades of the rock outcrops. Figures and signs of this area have been reported by various scholars since the 1930s, but real systematic research only began in 1963, when Emmanuel Anati, director and founder of the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, focused his attention on the site. Over the next three years, Anati identified the sub-areas into which the area is still divided today: Seradina I-Corno, Seradina I-Ronco Felappi, Seradina II, Seradina III and Bedolina, the latter made famous by the set of engravings known as the Map of Bedolina. In the following years, the Centro Camuno concentrated its studies on the large rock 12 of Seradina I, while in the meantime the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Lombardia decided to safeguard the Bedolina Map through a conservative restoration.

Within the park, various types of engravings can be appreciated thanks to five visitor routes. The visitor's eye can admire the majestic warrior-hunters, the numerous ploughing scenes, the huts and the North Etruscan inscriptions. Walking along the path that connects the Seradina area to Bedolina, one can be fascinated by the engravings of horns, probable musical instruments, and discover the Bedolina Map, positioned on a natural terrace that allows one to embrace the entire landscape below with one's gaze. Of particular importance is rock 12 of Seradina I, on which it is possible to admire around a hundred engraved figures. They depict deer hunting and ploughing scenes: one can recognise duellists, horsemen, big-horned deer, gaping-mouthed dogs, heroes stopping snakes with their bare hands, and praying people with their arms raised. In addition to these figures, created with a fine and confident stroke, also typical of this area are the representations of armed men with squat bodies, which have been engraved on the inside. At the entrance to the first tour route there are two service huts with a projection room presenting the park, a permanent exhibition of plaster casts from the 'Battista Maffessoli' collection (faithful reproductions of the most important engraved rocks in the Camonica Valley), the photographic exhibition Nel bosco dei Graffiti and a relaxation area.