Digital Rocks. An integrated approach to rock art recording: the case study of Ossimo-Pat (Valle Camonica), monolith 23

This paper addresses the different methods of recording prehistoric rock art, with specific focus on the northern Italian area (Valle Camonica, UNESCO Site n. 94), and presents a new integrated way of recording and tracing engravings. This method combines different sources of data, both traditional, as an ‘enhanced’ way of rubbing, and technological. The active use of Structure from Motion photogrammetry and the subsequent mesh manipulation, as well as the implementation of digital macrophotography with artificial oblique lighting, are among the methods used for the recognition of the correct features of the carvings, while the tracing of the engraved figures, executed in vector graphics, is structured on layers. Combining the benefits of the digitally enhanced visibility of the figures with the precision and versatility of digital vector drawing, this method produces state of the art tracings of rock art, for a better comprehension of the symbols carved on the stone. All steps of this method are demonstratedusing, as a selected case study, the unpublished monolith n. 23 from the Copper Age Sanctuary of Ossimo, Pat (BS) in Valle Camonica, Northern Italy.