When we think of the archaeology of prehistory, we often think of artifacts that concern graves, weapons or military sites and it is difficult to understand how our ancestors lived.
Usually the finds concern only objects of metal, stone, terracotta or glass, but among the remains found of the lake peoples we find numerous organic and easily periperable materials such as wooden objects, fabrics and even foods: in fact, among the remains found by the lake peoples we find numerous organic and easily periperable materials such as wooden objects, fabrics and even foods: in fact, Contrary to what is believed, wet environments promote the preservation and therefore the return of finds not only in large quantities but also of materials such as woods and fabrics normally very difficult to preserve. The discovery of lake peoples began in Switzerland where, in 1854, an extensive field of wooden poles planted in the soil was discovered, emerging from the waters of Lake Zurich. Archaeologist Ferdinand Keller hypothesized the existence, in prehistory, of an ancient lake village that he called stilts, characterized by hut-like dwellings that stood on wooden platforms and supported by poles fixed vertically on the bottom of the Lake. More recently it was discovered that such dwellings could also have arisen on marshy land, on the shores of the lake, more or less dry and peaty, or even on dry soil. Following in the footsteps of the new discoveries, similar finds began to be sought in all the lakes of the Alpine arc and so it was also on Lake Garda, which became the reference point of research on stilts for the numerous finds that interest him. In fact, the first prehistoric finds on Lake Garda took place as early as 1850 in Peschiera during the construction of the Austrian fortresses, to understand its importance, however, it was necessary to wait for the arrival in Italy of Keller himself and his colleague von Sacken. Much more important finds were found in Lazise, where three palatial sites were discovered in 1864: Bor and Porto di Pacengo and Villa Bagatta. In 1983 Egidio Isolde, our fellow citizen, reported to the Civic Museum of Natural History in Verona the existence of a fourth stilt in Bottona, near the campsites Ideal and La Quercia and since then known as the stilt of Lazise's Oak. All four palatial sites date back to the Bronze Age and specifically to a period from 1700 to 1400 BC: processed bones; ceramic works such as bowls and vases; the blades and arrowheads; metals that were used both for tools such as axes or scythes, as well as for ornamental objects such as pins, pendants and buttons, and finally wood, used for containers, axes or scythes, for ladles and hoes. About the plant remains are present wheat, barley, horn, vine and fig and a round and crushed bread. The settlements extended parallel to the beach from which they were about a hundred meters away and to which they could be put in communication by a walkway. The exhibits are now mostly at the Civic Museum of Natural History in Verona.