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UmbertoSansoni
ansandweresharedwiththeIndo-Europeantribeswhiletheywerestillunited.
ThesetwogroupsthensplitwiththeIndo-Iraniansmovingsouthandeastwhile
theIndo-Europeansturnedtowardsthewestandextendeditsinfluenceacross
allEurope.However,asecondwaveofIndo-Iranians,theIranianspeakingSaka-
Scythians,alsoreachedtheBalkansinthelaterpartofthe1stmillenniumBCE.
EchoesoftheoriginalIndo-European/Indo-Iranianunityaredetectablein
elementsoftheshamanic-ecstaticphenomena,astestifiedbytheritualevi-
denceandiconographicdata,suchastherockartimageryfromthelate4th
millenniumBCEto2ndmillenniumBCE.ThemythologicaltextsoftheVedas
andAvestaalsoimportantlyprovideuswithearlysourcematerialsonshamanic
characteristics.Forexample,thegreatimportanceandvalueofthesoma-haoma
drinkwithintheritualsiswellknownandclearlyrelatetoambrosiaandnectar,
thedrinkofthegods,intheGreekmyths.Soma-haomaisprobablylinkedtothe
emergenceofalcoholic(orother)drinksduringthe3rdmillenniumBCEand
echoesofsimilarvaluearefoundlaterwithintheGreekcycleofmythsabout
Dionysus,thegodofwineandecstasy-enthousiasmós.Moreover,therewasalso
thegeneralspreadofritualvesselsfordrinkingfoundinthefunerarycontexts
oftheCordedWareCulture(2900-2400BCE)andreplacedbytheBell-Beaker
Culture(2400-2200BCE),whichwerethefirstculturesthatappearedtobeso
widespreadacrossEurope.
Itthenfollowsthatitwouldbeapotentiallyfruitfulavenueofresearchto
comparetheexpressionsofrockartfromthewest(especiallytheAlpsandScan-
dinavia)withtheeastfromCentralAsiaduringtheChalcolithicandBronze
Ages.Uponaninitialinspectionbothregionsshareacommonrangeofdepic-
tions(horses,chariots,warriors,prayingfigures,humanswith‘bighands’,weap-
ons,solarsymbols,etc.)whichmayholdunderlyingcommonthemes.Moreover,
theymaybelinksbetweentherockartrepresentationsfromeasttowestthat
connectwithelementsofshamanicthemesandrituals.
Valcamonica
Withregardstoiconography,therockartofValcamonica(CamonicaValley)
intheCentralAlpsofnorth-easternItalyprovidesvaluablecluesfortracesof
ancientIndo-Europeanshamanism.TherockartheritageofValcamonicaisde-
finedbyfourchronologicalphases:
a)TheEpipaleolithicphase(circa7thmillenniumBCE).Inthisearliestphase
therockcarvingsdepictwildanimals,suchasdeer,elkandwildgoats,thatare
expressionsofhunter-gatherers,suchasNorthAmericanEskimosandtheSi-
beriantribes.Shamanicelementscanbecarefullydiscernedwithinthiscultural
horizon.Nevertheless,theengravingsatValcamonica,CrapeandLuinearede-
pictedinasemi-natural,stylizedpatternthatgivesusnohinttotheirsymbol-
