Apart from the mushroom images of Scandinavian rock art (KAPLAN 1975), this is the only other representation of the fly agaric in European prehistoric art discovered to date. The rock engravings of Mount Bego are part of a larger group of rock art works in the Alpine arc dating from late Paleolithic to historic times. The largest concentration of rock engravings (more than 100.000 images) is in Valcamonica (Lombardy, Italy) and is the work of the Camuns people (cf. ANATI 1982). I noted in an earlier work that there were many psychoactive mushrooms, Amanita and Psilocybe in the area of the engraved rocks of Valcamonica and suggested that these mushrooms may have had a part to play in the cults and rituals of the Camuns (SAMORINI 1988). Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that all the rock art of the Camuns and Alpine rock art in general are closely associated with religious cults.
The second series of rock art works of major importance m the Alpine arc (over 30.000 images) is at Mount Bego and the "Valley of Wonders." Studies of this prehistoric site go back one hundred years (cf. BERNARD1NI 1971; BLAIN 1976). The main peculiarity of this rock art is the altitude of the site (2000-2500 meters) and the significant – one might say obsessive – presence of horned zoomorphic images (essentially Bovidae). A further peculiarity is that practically all these horned figures are engraved in such a manner that the horns point toward the peak of the mountain. This is not a chance occurrence.
It has been observed that Mount Bego is one of the Maritime Alps mountains most frequently struck by lightning, and it has been hypothesized on more than one occasion that Mount Bego was selected by prehistoric peoples as a "sanctuary" precisely because of this meteorological characteristic (cf. for example, MARRO 1945-46). In ancient times it was widely believed that the sacredness of certain localities could be derived from this characteristic. It is also worth noting the zigzag form of many of the Mount Bego horns, reminiscent of lightning. A number of scholars have already pointed this out (cf. for example, MARRO 1944-45). We should now turn our attention to the "Altar Rock" with the engraved scene inappropriately called the "Tribal Chieftain," about which I’ll make my own observations, adding these to the observations mentioned by P. Duvivier in the previous article.
The anthropomorphic figure originally called "Tribal
Chief" was then considered a sacrificial victim,
due to the knife pointing toward the right of his head.
Since there is a cow skull adorning the drape-like
vestment of the anthropomorphic figure, for a long time
it was thought that this was a scene associated with a
Mithraic-style sacrificial act. However, according to
the more precise dating techniques subsequently adopted
by archeologists, these rock engravings date much
further back than the Mithraic cult adopted by the Roman
legions passing through this area, and this
interpretation was therefore abandoned (DUFRENNE 1986).
There is more justification for the interpretation
offered by those researchers who see the figure as
"adorant" or "offlciant" (DUFRENNE
1985; MARINGER 1979).My own opinion is that this scene presents shamanistic connotations due to the presence of the mushroom image and a stepladder – basic elements of the ritual of shamanistic initiation (ELIADE 1964; SAMORINI 1990). Researchers have noted surprising analogies between the prehistoric stones of Valcamonica and Valtellina (Italy) and Indo-European symbolic and religious concepts (ANATI 1977; PIANTELLI 1983). In the wake of this discovery, ROLAND DUFRENNE (1985,1986) found even closer analogies between the symbolism of the rock art of Mount Bego and that of the Indian Vedas. In Vedic sacrifice, we may note assimilation of sacred utterances and prayer on the one hand and, on the other, arrows or daggers pointing toward the head of the officiant and which reach his heart. This, according to Dufrenne, is what we find in the Mount Bego scene with the dagger touching the head of the adorant.
The mushroom image is generally considered a stylized cow skull, a dagger or
some other ritual arm – however difficult it is to see in it an arm of any
kind. The way it thickens out at the "handle" or "blade"
brings to mind the ring of the stalk of A. muscaria and the
engraved dots on the upper part of the figure are very similar to the punctiform
spots on the cap of fly agaric. Dufrenne notes seven dots and finds a
correspondence between these and the seven mysterious powers sustaining the
universe or the seven original prayers of Vedic cosmogony. However, we know that
the number seven is also associated with Siberian shamanistic symbolism and the
use of fly agaric. Lappish shamans, for example, consume A. muscaria mushrooms
with seven spots (Cf. T.I. ITKONEN, see WASSON 1968: 279).Bibliography