L’Albero del Tempo

By Gaudenzio Ragazzi

Hello children.

My name is Battista and I was the first Camunian guide to the rock engravings, the “pitoti” of Capo di Ponte. Don’t you know  what “pitoti” are? If you dedicate a little of your time to me, I will let you know them.

When I was little like you, together with my friends from Capo di Ponte I enjoyed sliding on the rocks smoothed by the glacier over the millennia and then engraved by prehistoric man.

At the time Valcamonica was one of the many valleys of the Alps and for us Camuni the petroglyphs were just drawings without value, “pitoti”, in fact, that is puppets.

Today, however, our petroglyphs are known throughout the world and since 1983, thanks to UNESCO, the World Organization for Education, Science and Culture, they have become a cultural heritage of all humanity, like the pyramids of Egypt and other important monuments of antiquity. Oh yes, I look with deep pride at the immense wealth of my land. If I listen, the rocks tell me the story, sometimes sad, sometimes exciting, of men who lived in my valley thousands of years ago.

In the beginning, a long time ago, a bud sprouted from an ancient root of the Tree of Time and from that bud a new stem full of branches and leaves developed. The history of man is that tree and we are only the last leaves grown on the highest branches.

Over the next few years, you will have the opportunity to study the fascinating history of the first humans, the roots of our civilization, at school. But if you are interested in knowing where and how man’s exciting story began, we can  sit here, in front of the first Masso di Cemmo and I will tell you about it in my own way, simply, avoiding difficult words as much as possible.

So what do you say? Do you agree? When you want Battista, your guide, is ready to start.

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