Lucone di Polpenazze excavations reveal 4,000-year-old Bronze Age artifacts

Archaeologists conducting the 2026 excavation campaign at the Lucone di Polpenazze site near Lake Garda have discovered several significant artifacts dating back over 4,000 years to the early Bronze Age. Among the finds are three new enigmatic terracotta tablets, bringing the total number of such artifacts recovered from the Lucone plain to 23.

These small clay tablets, characterized by geometric patterns, incisions, and impressions, remain a subject of intense study as their exact function is unknown. Researchers are investigating whether they served as systems for recording information or for exchange.

Other recovered items include a bronze blade likely belonging to a dagger, flint arrowheads, ceramics such as cups and mugs, faience elements, and a Dentalium shell. The site, located in the municipality of Polpenazze del Garda, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage serial site ‘Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps.’

The excavations are led by the Museo Archeologico della Valle Sabbia (MAVS) under the direction of Marco Baioni, with support from the Lombardy Region. Dendrochronological analysis of wooden poles indicates the settlement was active for approximately 67 years, between 2034 and 1967 B.C.