Rock engravings (Petroglyphs) are documented in several different locations in the Valtellina, but the most important ones can be found in the Rock Engraving Park of Grosio on the surface of the Rupe Magna.
In the year of 1966 the italian Archaeologist Davide Pace found traces of rock engravings.
During the following years he made a first record of those petroglyphs of the Rupe Magna and even of those found on the nearby Dosso Giroldo.
In a next step the Rupe Magna got object of a research project between 1991 and 1995.
During those scientific studies more than 5.000 petroglyphs were located and documented.
The Rupe Magna, with a length of 84 m and a width of 35 , is one of the biggest engraved rocks in the Alpine range.

The Rupe Magna owes its shape to the action of the Valtellina glacier.
The slow, continual movement of the tongues of ice which occupied the valleys of the Adda and the Roasco molded the surface into its characteristic form.
The Rupe Magna is made of dark grey phyllite with quartzite lenses.
Numerous themes like human figures, including “orants”, armed men and wrestlers, animals, geometrical shapes, cup-marks, rakes and crosses are represented on the surface of the Rupe Magna.
On the basis of comparison with objects from archaeological excavations and stylistic considerations they may be dated from the Neolithic Period (4th millennium BC) to the Iron Age (1st millennium BC).

Archaeological excavations in 1995 could proof the existence of prehistoric settlements on the Dosso dei Castelli beginning from the Bronze Age (16th – 14th century BC) up to the Iron Age, precisely to the 1st century BC.
Rock engravings (Petroglyphs) are documented in several different locations in the Valtellina, but the most important ones can be found in the Rock Engraving Park of Grosio on the surface of the Rupe Magna. In the year of 1966 the italian Archaeologist Davide Pace found traces of rock engravings. During the following years he made a first record of those petroglyphs of the Rupe Magna and even of those found on the nearby Dosso Giroldo. In a next step the Rupe Magna got object of a research project between 1991 and 1995. During those scientific studies more than 5.000 petroglyphs were located and documented. The Rupe Magna, with a length of 84 m and a width of 35 , is one of the biggest engraved rocks in the Alpine range. 
The Rupe Magna owes its shape to the action of the Valtellina glacier. The slow, continual movement of the tongues of ice which occupied the valleys of the Adda and the Roasco molded the surface into its characteristic form. The Rupe Magna is made of dark grey phyllite with quartzite lenses. Numerous themes like human figures, including “orants”, armed men and wrestlers, animals, geometrical shapes, cup-marks, rakes and crosses are represented on the surface of the Rupe Magna. On the basis of comparison with objects from archaeological excavations and stylistic considerations they may be dated from the Neolithic Period (4th millennium BC) to the Iron Age (1st millennium BC). 
Archaeological excavations in 1995 could proof the existence of prehistoric settlements on the Dosso dei Castelli beginning from the Bronze Age (16th – 14th century BC) up to the Iron Age, precisely to the 1st century BC.
Rock Engraving Park of Grosio