Il sito protostorico di Dos dell'Arca (BS): la campagna di scavo e documentazione 2018 dell'Università di Pavia (Progetto Quattro Dossi - fase II).

In 2015 the University of Pavia started the first phase of the Quattro Dossi (Four Hills) Project, research conducted in the homonymous area in the municipality of Capo di Ponte, at the heart of the UNESCO Site n.94 “Rock Drawings in Valle Camonica”, of which a first report was given in this same journal, in 2018. This paper presents the results of the second phase of the Project, namely the 2018 excavation and rock art documentation at Dos dell’Arca, a settlement with phases from Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The site in question is part of the wider Quattro Dossi area and is of great importance for the studies of protohistoric Alps. It had already been partially excavated in 1962 under the direction of Emmanuel Anati. The University of Pavia’s research followed three guidelines: opening new excavation trenches (Saggio C), continuing work in the old unfinished trenches (Saggio B), and documenting the stratigraphy in the old finished trenches (Saggio A) in order to shed new light on the findings of 1962, which are almost entirely unpublished to date. The first campaign, presented here, documented a homogeneous and coherent stratigraphic situation, which cumulated a well-established material culture and led to the identification of new engraved figures below archaeological layers. The second objective of this campaign was to initiate complete documentation, performed with up-to-date methodology, of the engraved rocky surfaces present both inside and outside the area of the settlement: in the 2018 fieldwork Rocks n. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were documented, three of which are fully presented here. This work also includes an update about the latest rock art discoveries at the site, as well as an iconographic insight on the depictions of hands in Valle Camonica rock art, giving a multidisciplinary overview of the various ramifications of the Quattro Dossi Project, which will continue with campaigns in 2019 and 2020