Rock Art Research

Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi on the island of Levanzo, part of the Egadi Archipelago off the western coast of Sicily, contains one of the most important records of Late Glacial rock art in the Mediterranean region. Its discovery in 1949 and publication marked a turning point in the history of rock art studies in Italy and gave the start to a great season of new finds in other caves and shelters of Sicily and a general growing interest for pre-Historic art. But despite the efforts of few, this interest gradually declined over the course of the years. The author’s aim is now that of building a new digital documentation of the rich Late Glacial rock and mobile art record of Sicily, and of reconsidering it under the light of the recent research in the field. A survey carried out inside the Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi in June 2012 by an Italian-German team was the first step to build a basic routine investigation valid for the whole record: together with other techniques of analysis, the team used a 3D structured light scanner to record many of the engraved panels of the cave. The use of 3D scanning technology proved very reliable and made the documentation of rock art more detailed, objective and efficient. Consequently this study has succeeded in detecting several new, previously unknown figures. In this paper one test case will be examined, to show what the 3D scan can add to the autoptic examination and how it raised new doubts and helped to ask new questions.