The UNESCO World Heritage Site n. 94 of Valcamonica in the Italian Prealps (Lombardy region) is famous for its prehistoric rock art dating from the late Upper Palaeolithic to modern times. They are found throughout the valley on exposed sections of fine-grained Permian sandstone (Verrucano Lombardo) and depict a wide range of abstract and figurative scenes and motifs. Despite the many representations of activities and objects associated with daily life, such as ox-drawn ploughing, weaving and houses, our knowledge of the settlement characteristics of the valley is still inconsistent. Previous interpretations of the phenomenon have even suggested that the valley was largely uninhabited, visited only periodically for resource extraction (metals) and symbolic activities. Although recent research, mostly preventive archaeological interventions, is increasingly providing evidence of structured and diffuse human occupation of the valley, systematic settlement studies are still lacking. We present a new project that challenges the view of an empty valley by pointing out the persistent research bias towards exceptional rock art, which obscures the subsistence and settlement context of the communities that created these images. Following a landscape archaeological approach, our study integrates environmental studies with non-invasive prospection of the immediate surroundings of incised rock outcrops. We illustrate our approach with a case study near the town of Capo di Ponte, i.e. the “Quattro Dossi” area, where an excavation project by the University of Pavia has revealed significant evidence of repeated occupation from the late Neolithic to the late Iron Age, although no dwelling or habitation structures have yet been identified.