Mara Migliavacca

The study examines for the first time the available archaeological data on salt production and use in Later
Prehistory in the Veneto region and exploits the close connection between salt use and livestock keeping on
which Veneto historically relied as a crucial resource during protohistoric and Roman times. The region was one
of the most significant areas of the central Mediterranean during Later Prehistory, as it provides evidence of rich
central places and long-distance trading between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Despite the absence of
salt mines, this area had access to abundant sal marinus from its extensive lagoons, which were natural environments
for salt production and winter pastures, as supported by archaeological evidence from the Bronze Age,
Roman times, and late antiquity. Topographic, ethnographic, and historical data demonstrate that the pastoral
routes from the mountains grazed the coastal lagoon areas, creating connections between diverse ecosystems
within the region and its surrounding areas. While pinpointing the exact movement of salt remains speculative,
considering the available data, this preliminary study suggests that during the Bronze Age, sea salt from the coast
was the primary source of salt especially in eastern Veneto, whereas rock salt from the Alps’ significant mines
was likely to arrive in the western Venetian mountains from the Iron Age onwards. Thus, at least two distinct
circuits for salt production, trade, and distribution likely coexisted in the region from the Iron Age.

In the first part of the paper, motivations, methods used and initial results obtained from the “Oltre il confine” Project held in Recoaro Terme (VI)
in the years 2019-2021 are presented. In the second part of the paper, the excavation of three shelters is discussed, underlining their membership in larger systems. In the 15th-18th centuries they were subject of interest for the close mountain communities, but also for the aristocratic families residing further afield and for the policies of the Republic of Venice. During the Recent and Final Bronze age the shelters and, more widely, the findings in these high pastures, often prestigious ones, hint at pastures, travel routes, exchanges, boundaries and rituals. In the final part of the paper, some method consideration about the archaeological work in the high quotes are presented.

Archaeological surveys and aerial-photo interpretation organised by the University of Padua in the surroundings of the terramara of Castello del Tartaro identified, outside the village closed by channels and enbankments, the traces of a Big Road This has been interpreted as a drove-way, possibly used for the passage of cattle. The drove-way is in the Costantini estate, Comune of Cerea (VR), in the lowland of Valli Grandi Veronesi. The road was sampled along a section, at 4 different levels of depth, and the content in Inorganic, Organic and Total Phosphorous was assessed by the Soil Chemistry Laboratory of DAFNAE Department, at the University of Padua. In the sampled section the content of P and the relationships among the different P forms show the presence of discontinuities and strong P accumulation in the layers under the arable land. The results corroborate the hypothesis of a drove-way. This hypothesis agrees with both paleobotanical and zooarcheological data from the territory around the embanked settlements (terramare), and underlines the importance of cattle husbandry within the complex relationships of the Bronze age world.

The paper deals with the findings at Monte Busino (Lessini mountains, Verona), where three daggers and two razors dating to the final phases of the Bronze age were found around a great stone. The presence of the razors in the classical sources is considered, and their connection with the construction of male identity is discussed. A possible interpretation of the discovery is proposed, thinking also of similar findings in the Veneto and surrounding regions

At the archaeological fortified site of Monte Loffa, in the Lessini Mountains north of Verona, a significant number of inscribed loom weights were discovered from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century in different and not always well documented excavations. The inscribed loom weights date to the Iron Age II (from the end of the 6th to the 1st century BC) and are exceptional both because they are made of stone and due to the unique typology of the inscriptions. As a matter of fact, the stele-shaped loom weights present a repertoire of inscribed signs, including numerals and icons that are often connected, combined and modified by small diacritics. The loom weights have been compared by the authors both with archaeological evidence of textile production and with all the known inscriptions recovered from an area comprising Trentino, Alto Adige and western Veneto. Although relevant to the Rhaetic writing system, no comparison for this particular type of loom weight has been found until now. Nevertheless, some other repertoires of signs connected to production activities, in the past and more recently, are the nearest candidates for a possible comparison. This paper identifies possible similarities between the unique inscriptions on these loom weights to other sign codes, with an analysis of ethnographic parallels of textile production across space and time.

In the Iron Age of the Italian Peninsula almost all the civilizations have developed a proper counting/number system, partly inherited – together with the alphabet – from the Greeks, partly autonomously developed. The Authors have analysed an advanced sign system connected with a class of objects referred to the textile production in Northern Italy during the second Iron Age (end of the 5th-1st Century B.C.). In the Lessinia Mountains, to the north of Verona, they could analyse 80 stone loom weights (from 1 to 2 kg heavy) presenting a varied repertoire of inscribed signs. It was possible to recognize a group of base signs, partly alphabetic, partly naturalistic or symbolic, varied by small diacritical marks. Authors argue that a similar sign system can represent the trace of quantitative/ qualitative inputs connected with the production, not only of textile, but also of other classes of artefacts. Riassunto Numeri e lettere come strumenti di processi produttivi nell'età del Ferro: il caso dei pesi da telaio nell'antica Lessinia (Italia settentrionale) Nell'età del Ferro della penisola italiana quasi tutte le civiltà svilupparono un proprio sistema di conteggio/numerazione, parzialmente ereditato insieme all'alfabeto dai Greci, parzialmente sviluppato in modo autonomo. Le autrici hanno analizzato un sistema avanzato di segni connesso con una classe di oggetti riferentesi alla produzione tessile in Italia settentrionale durante la seconda età del Ferro (fine VI-I secolo a.C.). Nei monti della Lessinia a nord di Verona le AA. hanno potuto analizzare 80 pesi da telaio di pietra (pesanti da 1 a 2 chili), che presentano un repertorio vario di segni iscritti. È stato possibile riconoscere un gruppo di segni-base, parzialmente alfabetico, parzialmente naturalistico o simbolico, variato grazie a piccoli diacritici. Secondo le AA. un tale sistema segnico può costituire una traccia di indicazioni quantitative e qualitative connesse con la produzione, non solo di tessili, ma anche di altre classi di manufatti. Parole chiave: pesi da telaio, produzione tessile dell'età del Ferro, epigrafia dell'età del Ferro, Italia settentrionale, numeri, marchi.

Since 2000 a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, geologists and paleobotanists has been carrying out joint investigations at Ca’ Tron, a 11 km2 estate located at the northern lagoon of Venice and included in the east countryside of the ancient Venetian-Roman Altinum. During the systematic survey conducted in Ca’ Tron estate nine Roman sites were identified, three of which were excavated in extension. Two rural settlements are analyzed in this paper, both attended since Ist to IV-V th century AD, having different planimetric features and economic role: the first one was a farm with several outbuildings, the second one was specialized in breeding sheep, with a large rectangular building, interpretable as a sheepfold on the basis of comparison with the Roman “bergeries” investigated in the Crau of Arles (Provence). Particularly relevant to the understanding of economic activities were the micromorphological analysis of soil types, chemical and biological, especially to clarify th...

The comparison of experiences carried out in different areas of Northern Italy has allowed to evaluate potentialities and limits of direct and indirect indicators of pastoralism. In the Trieste Karst prehistoric pastoralism was focused on in the late '90s by geo-archaeological studies of cave deposits, based on sedimentological and soil micromorphological analyses of samples collected in previous excavations; further evidence was then found essentially by reviewing old data. In the eastern and north-eastern part of Friuli Venezia Giulia, a similar situation of absence of new fieldwork suggested the adoption of a similar approach, integrated by a specific attention to ethnography, through interviews to the few shepherds still active in the area. Ethnography has played an even more important role in the interdisciplinary field investigations carried out since the ‘80s in Veneto, in particular in the Lessini highlands, where hundreds of abandoned pastoral buildings were detected, a...

Two settlement areas, situated between Sarcedo and Montecchio Precalcino (VI) municipalities, were object of archeological investigations in 2012, in conjunction with the realization of the new Venetian Piedmont Highway. The two areas were about 500 m far from one another and can be referred to the Middle and Late Bronze Age: both were characterized by evidences of housing structures, ditches and wells, besides pottery and lithic artifacts on the archeological surface.

ABSTRACT Uomo della Roccia (The Stone Man) is a huge calcareous monolith arising in the hilly landscape of the Italian Prealps between Lake Garda and River Brenta. The area has always been a natural passage between the alpine world and the Po plain, and the big stone surely was a land-mark useful for people living in the zone. Therefore, when the team of the Agno-Leogra Project made the first surface survey around the monolith, it was not surprised to find archaeological artefacts. The following surveys and excavations discovered several interesting archaeological areas. In the slopes under the monolith an agrarian landscape made of terraces covered a previous occupation in which the remains of a structure and a big amount of ceramic and lithic artefacts were pinpointed. Uphill from the monolith impressive stone ramparts were detected, while in close proximity clearings suited to hunting and comfortable caves had attracted human exploitation. A series of specialistic studies is collected in this book, dealing with the troubled geology of the area and the analysis of the findings -ceramics and lithic tools, a unique metal artefact, human and animal bone fragments, palaeobotanical remains- as well as the spatial analysis of the relationships of the site with the contemporaneous settlements of the area. The results of the study as a whole show that the bulk of occupation was in an advanced stage of Neolithic age, when the site was devoted to animal -especially sheep and goat- husbandry, agriculture, hunting and fishing, but interestingly -as far as the metal artefact is concerned- it was inserted in a network of contacts reaching up to the Balcans. The earliest terraces downstream the monolith can probably be dated to this age. In the Bronze age Uomo della Roccia was occupied by a seasonal exploitation, involving both men and women in pasture and wood management. The big stone was attended also in late Roman period, and again in early and late Middle ages until modern times. Each occupation left its traces in the landscape, that is described in the book also in the more recent use. A fascinating archaeological route is being designed by archaeologists and locals working together. Aim of the project is inviting people to know and love this land and to love and enhance it.

ABSTRACT Analysis undertaken on the lithic artefacts found at the Iron Age site of Monte Loffa in the Lessini Mountains allowed us to identify secondary transformation activities such as pounding or grinding for different types of raw materials. In order to understand the functional meaning of the artefacts, we adopted an integrated approach which combines different methods used in archaeology, experimental archaeology, archaeometry and ethnoarchaeology. A relational data-base was also created. As regards archaeometry, on one hand, petrographic analyses allowed us to identify the site catchment areas in terms of raw materials exploited, thus providing additional information about the frequency selection classes and the intentional selection of litho-types. On the other hand, chemical analysis informed us about the presence of any residual substance on the artefacts’ surface, thus helping towards the understanding of the raw materials they were used for. As for wear traces analyses, they provide information about the functionally active surfaces and -again- about the raw materials that were transformed. The integration of all of the above-mentioned data with the information provided by archaeological excavations and by ethnoarchaeological and experimental analyses allow the construction of an interpretive model for the functional understanding of these pestles/grinding tools, which otherwise tend to be misunderstood by traditional methods of analysis. Key words: petrography, raw material extraction and treatment, hide, wool and metal processing

The article describes the results of the 2011-2012 archaeological survey held in the piedmont area between the Agno and Leogra valleys (Vicenza district, in north-western Veneto region). It focuses on the identification and recording of the traces left by the exploitation of the numerous mines of the area, surely worked before the Industrial Revolution, during the domination of Venice (XV-XVII centuries), but very probably also in antiquity. The hints of the possible ancient exploitation are described. Aim of the work is also to turn to account the many historical traces that are found in this mountain zone. Keywords: Veneto Prealps, from protohistory to Venice domination, archaeological survey, minescapes, ethnoarchaeology

The study area embraces a portion of the Veneto mountain region: lake Garda defines the western boundary, while the eastern one is marked by the river Brenta. The northern boundary coincides with the regional boundary between Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto; southwards the Veneto Prealps (barely reaching 2000 ms in altitude) decline towards the Po plain. This territory has always been a natural passage between the alpine world and the Po plain. The highlands have always been easily reached from the Po plain, especially in the eastern part, thanks to the relatively gentle relief of the mountain ridges and the deep valleys running southwards: the main one is the Adige valley. On the west, the area of Piccole Dolomiti is more spectacular, but more difficult to go through; and again, the Asiago plateau offers a large flat area that can be easily exploited, and certainly was exploited since Roman times and earlier, from the Po plain. The chronological boundaries of the research are the 6th and the 1st centuries B.C. The 6th century is a key-period for northern Italy, where the first proto-urban centres developed in the Po plain. In the area under study, we can recall the venetic centres of Este, Padua and Vicetia, the last just on the southern edge of the prealpine region. The Venetic world was distributed westwards up to the eastern bank of river Mincio, the western side being occupied by the Etruscans, who just in this period penetrated north of the river Po (possibly in order to control more closely the traffic with the regions north of the Alps). Another key-period is the 4th century B.C., when the Celts occupied the plain between Oglio and Mincio as well as the plain between Mincio and Adige. In the same time the centre of Verona was born (or better, the first settlements corresponding to the future centre of Verona), just on the southern fringe of the Prealpine area. In this period the Raeti, the population living in Trentino-Alto Adige region, expanded southwards, almost up to the fringes of the Verona Prealpine zone (Lessini mountains). The last key-period is the 2nd century B.C., when the Romans arrived in the Po plain. The construction of via Postumia (148 B.C.) is, for the study-area, the most important sign of the Romanization, a process that was long, gradual and complex, and brought about changes in juridical, social, economic and settlement organization. Because of its position, the study area did not experience directly the great social and historical changes of the period, but did feel some effects of them. Scholars have always considered this area a borderland, important for metals, animal husbandry and trade between the people living in the Po plain and the people living to the north in the mountains of the Alpine chain. As a borderland, it has been considered not only a geographical borderland, but also a cultural, linguistic, economic and political one. Different people and influences have been placed one upon another over the long run, but this does not mean that we are not able to distinguish them and their organization, as this study aims to demonstrate. To help in site analysis, key positions have been studied, according to the vertical pattern of land use that is common in a mountain area: 1. The piedmont sites, occupying the ridge heads of the Prealps in a typical passage area between the large alluvial plain and the mountain chain; they are important also for transverse communication; they are polycentric, like Montebello and consisted of buildings half-buried in the soil, where many activities were performed; 2. The highland zone, above the upper limit of the belt of permanent settlements. This is the area of high pastures, where the range of available resources decreases and the exploitation tends to be seasonal; 3. The sites at the upper limit of the belt of permanent settlements, which corresponds to the upper limit of the belt of cereal cultivation, in this Prealpine region ranging from 800 (eight hundred) to 1200 (one thousand and two hundred) m above sea level. They control the key- passage from the hill ecosystem to the mountain one. I hope that my research will help in understanding the scale and the type of the territorial organization in antiquity; in finding out the changes in settlement strategies through time and possibly the reasons for these changes; and, finally, in underlying the richness of the technological and cultural heritage of the Veneto mountains. Thanks to this study, it is possible to try to describe the changes in settlement strategies in this mountain area through time, going back to 8th – 7th centuries B.C., when the eastern zone was almost abandoned after a period of flourishing in the 9th century. The reason for the abandonment could have been the formation of the two proto-cities of Este and Padua, attracting people from the neighbourhood. In the western area of research, Monte Purga was visited by venetic people coming from the Po plain as far as the…

Archaeological surveys and aerial-photo interpretation organised by the University of Padua in the surroundings of the terramara of Castello del Tartaro identified, outside the village closed by channels and enbankments, the traces of a Big Road. This has been interpreted as a drove-way, possibly used for the passage of cattle. The drove-way is in the Costantini Fondo, Comune of Cerea (VR), in the lowland of Valli Grandi Veronesi. The road was sampled along a section, at 4 different levels of depth, and the content in Inorganic, Organic and Total Phosphorous was assessed by the Soil Chemistry Laboratory of DAFNAE, at the University of Padua. In the sampled section the content of P and the relationships among the different P forms show the presence of discontinuities and strong P accumulation in the layers under the arable land. The results corroborate the hypothesis of a drove-way. This hypothesis agrees with both paleobotanical and zooarcheological data from the territory around the embanked settlements (terramare), and underlines the importance of cattle husbandry within the complex relationships of the Bronze age world.

In the Lessini highlands a project, underway since 2005, focused on shepherds’
activities. The aims of the project were to locate and document the traces of shepherds and sheep
farming in the area, distinguishing them from the traces left by the other activities performed
in the territory, such as cattle farming; and to understand the changes that pastoral structures
underwent through time. A systematic field survey covered the whole of the Lessini highlands.
About 600 pastoral structures were discovered, recognised and recorded in databases collecting
their geomorphological location and architectural features. Archaeological findings dating to the
final phases of Bronze Age and to historical times were also found: they are possibly connected
with some pastoral structures (Sauro et al., 2013). Except for a few cases found on the edge
of Lessini highlands, where significant traces of mining activities were recorded, no traces of
writings were found: the paper will try to check this absence and its reasons.

The paper describes the archaeological fieldwork from 2015 to 2018 in the Neolithic site of Uomo della Roccia which lies in the Italian Prealps between Lake Garda and River Brenta. The site is in the Schio – Recoaro minerary district, corresponding to the eastern part of the Lessini mountains, embracing the upper Agno valley, the Leogra valley, the Posina river basin, the Tretto area and the Sinello valley in the Trentino region. The district is rich with minerals, copper as well as iron.
The archaeological excavation discovered the history of a prealpine landscape made of agrarian terraces, in which the re-mains of a Bronze age structure and many artefacts, dating from prehistory to Early Middle Ages, were identified. The arte-facts and radiocarbon dating show that the bulk of the occupation dates to the late Neolithic.

Archaeological fieldwork, remote sensing, ethno-archaeology, landscape archaeology, management of natural and cultural resources of the mountains.

Disputed and shared mountains, pastoral and mining activities, charcoal pits, trade and smuggling…

This paper presents the results of the 2014 fieldwork on the Agno-Leogra project. Of particularly interest is the site of Omo della Roccia, where dry stone terraces were found together with lithic and ceramic artefacts ranging from the Copper to the Bronze ages. Parole chiave: progetto Agno-Leogra 2014, ricognizione di superficie, sito di Omo della Roccia, età del Rame, età del Bronzo.

L’articolo presenta i risultati – per quanto attiene alle fasi più recenti di frequentazione – di cinque anni di campagne archeologiche tenute sulle montagne del Veneto occidentale, non lontano dal confine con il Trentino Alto Adige. Una ricognizione di superficie sistematica ha consentito l’individuazione di molti manufatti databili tra XV e XX secolo; gli scavi archeologici hanno riportato in luce costruzioni sfruttate stagionalmente da pastori, databili tra XV e XVIII secolo. È stato possibile collegare i risultati del lavoro archeologico di campo sia con gli studi paleobotanici fatti condurre contestualmente alle campagne, sia con alcune fonti storiche, per ricostruire la storia del paesaggio montano in età postmedievale

The paper deals with the findings at Monte Busino (Lessini mountains, Verona), where three daggers and two razors dating to the final phases of the Bronze age were found around a great stone. The presence of the razors in the classical sources is considered, and their connection with the construction of male identity is discussed. A possible interpretation of the discovery is proposed, thinking also of similar findings in the Veneto and surrounding regions

Studio e valorizzazione delle terre alte tra Veneto e Trentino Campagna 2019: ricognizione nell'area delle Montagnole (Recoaro Terme) a cura di …… 16 settembre-18 ottobre 2019 direzione dei lavori: Mara Migliavacca e-mail: maragioia.migliavacca@univr.it si prega di inviare curriculum e scheda di iscrizione entro il 20 giugno 2019 Periodo: dal 16 settembre al 18 ottobre 2019 Turni: di due settimane almeno Condizioni di partecipazione: saranno selezionati 8 tra studenti e dottorandi per turno, che potranno partecipare alla campagna spesati di vitto e alloggio; la partecipazione dà diritto a due crediti formativi alla settimana. I partecipanti dovranno essere in regola con la visita medica e il corso per la sicurezza nei cantieri archeologici.

Ricognizione di superficie, scavo, archeo-metallurgia, etno-archeologia, valorizzazione delle risorse eco-culturali della montagna Si terrà una campagna di ricognizione di superficie e scavo nell'area, nota per la ricchezza delle sue risorse minerarie e che a partire dall'età del Bronzo recente e finale sembra delinearsi come terra di confine tra sfere culturali ed ideologiche distinte: la facies culturale Luco di formazione trentina e gli aspetti "protovillanoviani" tipici dell'ambiente peninsulare, presenti in area prealpina. Dall'età del Ferro invece l'area in questione vedrà il contatto tra le popolazioni retiche e i Veneti in pianura. Periodo: dal 1 luglio fino al 19 luglio 2019 (tre settimane) Turni: di due settimane Condizioni di partecipazione: saranno selezionati 8 tra studenti, specializzandi e dottorandi per turno, che potranno partecipare alla campagna spesati di vitto e alloggio. PROGETTO AGNO-LEOGRA Nel cuore del distretto minerario vicentino Ricognizione e scavi a Uomo della Roccia (Cornedo, VI) campagna 2019 a cura di ……

Progetto di intervento archeologico sulla dorsale Agno-Leogra

Ricognizione di superficie, scavo, archeo-metallurgia, etno-archeologia, valorizzazione delle risorse eco-culturali della montagna
Nel luglio 2016 si terrà una campagna di ricognizione di superficie e scavo nell’area, nota per la ricchezza delle sue risorse minerarie e che a partire dall’età del Bronzo recente e finale sembra delinearsi come terra di confine tra sfere culturali ed ideologiche distinte: la facies culturale Luco di formazione trentina e gli aspetti “protovillanoviani” tipici dell'ambiente peninsulare, presenti in area prealpina. Dall'età del Ferro invece l’area in questione vedrà il contatto tra le popolazioni retiche e i Veneti in pianura.

Progetto di intervento archeologico sulla dorsale Agno-Leogra

Ricognizione di superficie, scavo, archeo-metallurgia, etno-archeologia, valorizzazione delle risorse eco-culturali della montagna
Nel luglio 2016 si terrà una campagna di ricognizione di superficie e scavo nell’area, nota per la ricchezza delle sue risorse minerarie e che a partire dall’età del Bronzo recente e finale sembra delinearsi come terra di confine tra sfere culturali ed ideologiche distinte: la facies culturale Luco di formazione trentina e gli aspetti “protovillanoviani” tipici dell'ambiente peninsulare, presenti in area prealpina. Dall'età del Ferro invece l’area in questione vedrà il contatto tra le popolazioni retiche e i Veneti in pianura.

This volume collects the results of the project "Beyond the Border", conceived and organised by the University of Verona, and supported by the Administration of the Municipality of Recoaro Terme thanks to "border" funds, based on Law 191/2009.
The archaeologists' work took place in annual campaigns, from 2019 to 2021, in three mountain areas: the pastures of Malga Campodavanti and Mesole; Campogrosso; and the Montagnole plateau. The fieldwork was preceded by a reflection on the most suitable methods for getting to know the area: these methods are presented in the first chapter of the book. In all three areas, a careful surface reconnaissance was carried out, which covered the entire territory, recording the evidence present without affecting it. In the Campodavanti and Montagnole areas, targeted excavations were also carried out on certain structures that the reconnaissance had identified. The volume combines the archaeological results obtained in the field with archive and environmental studies, with the intention of returning a more complete, if not exhaustive, account of these highlands. The data collected speak of human habitation starting from the Palaeolithic period, through the Bronze Age, the Roman, Medieval and modern eras, up to the great twentieth-century conflicts and finally to the present day.

Il volume raccoglie una serie di contributi presentati nell’ambito del corso di alta formazione “Montagne e Archeologie”, organizzato come attività congiunta dei Corsi di Dottorato “Culture d’Europa”. Ambiente, spazi, storie arti, idee” (Università di Trento) e “Scienze archeologiche, storico-artistiche e storiche” (Università di Verona), a cura di Diego E. Angelucci, Enrico Croce, Mara Migliavacca e Fabio Saggioro. I casi-studio ricadono nell’ambito della cosiddetta “archeologia di montagna” e offrono esempi del lavoro archeologico alle alte quote o nelle aree vallive, significativi per suscitare sia la discussione metodologica sia la riflessione sulla presenza umana negli ecosistemi montani.

Informazioni preziose per la ricostruzione di paesaggi molto lontani da noi nel tempo,
circa 5000 anni fa, provengono da quella che è considerata la scoperta archeologica più
straordinaria del ventesimo secolo, il rinvenimento di un uomo mummificato il 19 settembre
1991 a 3.210 metri slm, nei ghiacci presso il Giogo di Tisa, nelle vicinanze del
rifugio Similaun, sulle Alpi tirolesi, non lontano dal confine con l’Austria. L’uomo è stato
sorpreso dalla morte nel pieno della sua quotidianità, vestito e attrezzato normalmente.
Le ricerche interdisciplinari che sono seguite hanno perciò potuto svelare le informazioni
ricchissime e inaspettate sulla vita quotidiana e sugli ambienti attraversati che la mummia
ha portato con sé, come un viaggiatore del tempo. L’analisi del radiocarbonio ha dimostrato
che l’uomo di Similaun, o Ötzi come è stato affettuosamente soprannominato dal
nome tedesco dell’area alpina, Ötztaler Alpen, è vissuto tra 3350 e 3120 a.C.: un’età che
può essere definita la fine del periodo Neolitico o l’Età del Rame. Comunque la si definisca,
un’età chiave nella storia del genere umano, che dopo avere imparato a coltivare e
allevare, andava scoprendo le enormi potenzialità offerte dalla lavorazione dei metall

The identification of buildings used for housing animals is problematic because of the scarce planimetric characterization, the perishable
structures, the rare discovery of indicators of activity. The latin writers of de re rustica treatises and Vitruvius provide helpful descriptions,
but rarely decisive: for the cattle (bubile), stables close to the kitchen, south-facing (Colum. 1.6), wide 10 to 15 roman feet
(3.00-4,50 m) (Vitr. 6,6,2), equipped with feeders (Colum. 1,6,7); for the sheep, low sheepfolds (humilia stabula), longer than they are
wide, south-facing (Colum. 7,3,8), with wide doorways; also for the horses (equile) the latin authors suggest to set stables in warm place
(Cat. 14.2; Vitr. 6.6; Var. 2,7,14; Colum. 6.27), to put in praesepia to keep the animals separated (Var. 2,7,7; Col. 6:27), to get the floor
paved and declining to keep it clean and dry (bubile: Var. 2, 5, 16; Col. 6, 23; ovile: Var. 2, 2, 19, 2, 3, 6; Col. 7, 4, 4; equile: Col. 6:30).
The framework provided by the archaeological record is therefore very poor: a stable is generally assumed in case of large dimension,
long shape, south-facing buildings, especially if they are equipped with small channels. Instead, scientific analysis (biological,
chemical) may have a significant role.

In the defended site of Monte Loffa, Lessini Mountains, North to Verona, a significant number of inscribed loom-weights was discovered in the time span of a century (from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th  century) in different  and not always well documented excavations.
They are dated in the second Iron Age, and are exceptional both because of  the material (stone) and the typology of inscriptions. As a matter of fact the stele-formed loom weights present a repertoire of inscribed signs, namely numerals and icons often connected, combined and modified by small diacritica. No real "text", i.e. personal or divine names, as it happens in other loom weights from the Graeco-Roman world, is attested here.
The weights have been compared by the authors both with the archaeological evidence of textile production and with all the known inscriptions coming from an area comprising Trentino, Alto Adige and western Veneto: their pertinence to a Rhaetic writing system is assured, but no punctual comparison for this particular type of loom weights has been found until now.
Nevertheless some other sign repertoires connected to production activities, in the past as well as in more recent times, are the nearest candidates for a possible comparison. In the present contribution the Authors attempt to find out possible similarities to other sign codes, first of all analyzing ethnographic parallels of the textile production in space and time.

Una campagna di ricognizione di superficie e scavo indagherà l’area, nota per la ricchezza delle sue risorse minerarie. Nell’età del Bronzo essa si delinea come terra di confine tra la facies culturale Luco di formazione trentina e gli aspetti “protovillanoviani” tipici dell'ambiente peninsulare. Dall'età del Ferro invece l’area vede il contatto tra i Reti e i Veneti in pianura.
Periodo: 16 luglio - 3 agosto 2018 (tre settimane)