Una nuova stele dell’età del Rame in Valtellina, località Piombarda, San Giovanni di Teglio (Sondrio)

In 2016 don Mario Simonelli identified a stone slab being used as an entry platform in a rear entrance of the church of San Giovanni, in the Piombarda locality, as a Copper Age engraved stele. The slab, a block of green stone, was probably taken from the church’s surrounding area and it was reused in the 15th century as an altar table containing the relics of the saints held in a rectangular hollow which is now filled with cement. In the 17th century the church was enlarged and built a new altar, at which point the stele was removed and probably placed in its current position. As being a step, the central section of the slab is heavily worn and the engravings are almost lost. The original shape has changed, as the slab underwent various cuts, since it was first created; only one of the short sides retains its original sub-triangular shape, representing the head and shoulder line of an anthropomorphic figure. In 2017 an initial tracing was made, this was subsequently rechecked on various occasions. Despite the difficulty in identifying the images, due to the complexity of the engravings and the numerous overlapping figures, it was possible to distinguish 9 different phases, 8 belonging to phase III A1 (3000-2500 BC) and one probably to phase III A2 (2500-2200 BC).