Mapping a peripheral landscape: The Bronze Age transformation at Schnals Valley (South Tyrol/Italy)

Abstract

The evolving human impact on the high alpine side valleys of the Alps has increasingly become the focus of the scientific community in recent decades. Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the integration of the newly acquired economic area into the settlement zone, the research conducted in the Schnals Valley has proven instrumental. The extensive archeological survey, which goes beyond the conventional investigation of visible structures or rock shelters, has led to the discovery of 20 high alpine Bronze Age sites, of which only 15% are visible above ground. This study presents compelling evidence of an Early Bronze Age intensification that spanned the 19th and 18th centuries BC and an intensification expressed through an increase and territorial distribution, as well as in the diversification of archeological record during the Middle Bronze Age. The cultivation of the research area seems to have been completed approximately in the 15th century BC, with only isolated Late Bronze Age sites being added. This transition parallels the contemporaneous development of central settlement areas, underscoring a symbiotic relationship between human activity in the high alpine regions and the growth of lowland communities. The detailed archeological investigation of six sites provides the first insight into the Bronze Age high alpine building culture and the interior design, in particular well constructed hearths associated with the production of secondary products. The investigated high alpine building culture of Schnals Valley corresponds to that of inner alpine settlements, and highlights the synchronous cultural development on the valley floor and in the high mountains. Crucially, this cultivation of the natural landscape of the Schnals Valley is intricately tied to the broader tapestry of cultural contacts and the exchange of goods throughout Europe during the Bronze Age.