Tra età del Bronzo ed età del Ferro nelle Prealpi venete occidentali: alla scoperta dei diversi tipi di sfruttamento dei paesaggi montani

The eastern Italian Prealps in the area between lake Garda and Brenta river have been exploited from historical times to the present day for many purposes that are typical of a mountain zone. Among the most important activities were mining and stock-raising. Ethnoarchaeological and archaeological projects have been carried out in the study area in order to detect and document the traces of human activities, not only shepherds and sheep farming but also mining. To date, it has been possible to locate hundreds of sheep folds, shepherds’ shelters and breeders’ houses in the uplands; to discover that the most ancient traces of organized human exploitation in the uplands go back to the Bronze Age, while during the Iron Age a change in upland economy is evident, possibly connected with the organization of larger territorial polities and their boundaries.