Il riparo del Cuel (Cimbergo, BS) tra frequentazione protostorica e pitture parietali

Between 2008 and 2015 the Soprintendenza Archeologia della Lombardia performed two excavation campaigns at the Cuel rockshelter, located in the municipal area of Cimbergo, in Valle Camonica (BS), known since the 1990s for two painted figures on top of the rock wall, right above the shelter. This paper presents new unpublished data from the diggings, along with the results of the analyses on the sediments and a 14C dating, a typological analysis of the material culture and a stylistic consideration of the painted figures. The excavations documented a sequence of 4 phases of frequentation: the first human presence is evidenced by a carbonaceous layer and several copper slag, dated to the 9th-8th centuries BCE. After a hiatus, the site was re-occupied in the 6th century BCE, and a sequence of five fireplaces, all constructed in the same peculiar fashion, were created inside the small shelter. The close proximity of these structures, along with their particular shape and the analyses carried out on their contents, suggests that their use was somehow related to some sort of cultic or symbolic occurrence. The painted figures on top of the rock, which do not have physical contact with the archaeological layers, are painted in red, and depict a deer with semi-folded legs and short antlers along with an almost fully erased anthropomorphic figure. These figures are stylistically akin to other painted scenes in the area of Paspardo, which are dated to the final Iron Age (2nd-1st century BC), so there is no clear chronological link between the material use at the site and the paintings. The last stage of habitation appears to be from the middle ages, dated from the find of a silver coin found in the 2008 excavations.