Two unknown individuals were caught yesterday afternoon while digging inside the Tosina archaeological site, in the municipal territory of Monzambano(Mantua), on Colli road. The intervention of the Carabinieri of the Volta Mantovana Station came on the report of the manager of the facility, who noticed the two individuals engaged in excavation activities in an area under protection. At the sight of the staff of the archaeological site, the individuals abandoned the equipment with which they were working and fled through the adjacent fields, losing their tracks. Military members of the Arma, who arrived a short time later, proceeded to conduct an inspection of the indicated area, where several excavation shovels, likely used by the two to search for archaeological finds, were found and subsequently placed under seizure. The report started in the early afternoon, when the facility manager noticed suspicious movements within the area marked for archaeological protection. The two individuals, who were not authorized to enter or even perform excavation activities, were moving within the site with hand tools, presumably hoping to find ancient materials to be stolen. Upon the appearance of facility personnel, the two chose not to engage in any kind of confrontation, preferring to move quickly away into the surrounding farmland. The Carabinieri of the Volta Mantovana Station, after surveying the scene, began investigations aimed at identifying the perpetrators of the attempted theft.
The Neolithic settlement of Tosina, located in Monzambano in the Garda Morainic Amphitheater, represents a site of great archaeological importance, currently the subject of a research and enhancement project. Its origin dates back to a period between the middle and early centuries of the 4th millennium B.C., leaving an imprint still evident in the landscape after about 6,000 years. The ancient core lies on a modest circular hill relief, which in the past was surrounded by marshes that provided protection and defense. The daily activities carried out in the village, including flint working from the Lessini Veronesi, agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting, together with cultural influences traceable to the Chassey Lagozza Culture and the Square Mouth Vase Culture, place the site within a broader network of contacts and exchanges spread throughout the Po Valley and Veneto regions.
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| Graverobbers fleeing Tosina (Mantua) archaeological site, abandon equipment |
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