L’arte rupestre nella penisola e nelle isole italiane presents the proceedings of IFRAO 2018 – Session 2H: Rock Art in the Italian Peninsula and Islands: Issues about the Relation between Engraved and Painted Rocks, Symbols, Mountain Areas and Paths. The various papers present a remarkable synthesis of current knowledge on inscriptions, engraved and painted, on the rock walls of the Italian peninsular. In recent years an increasing amount of data has been collected, characterized by a regional and peculiar iconography with some common elements: anthropomorphic figures, weapons, daggers, halberds and other several symbols, all stylised. A peculiarity of this research is the site’s locations within small shelters, inappropriate for habitation or in places suitable for supervising mountain and territory roads; this research demonstrates similarities to that carried out in the Western Mediterranean Sea. A new subject of relates to the possible interpretations of some engravings as solar and stellar symbols related to the measuring of time and to economic, daily and seasonal factors.
