PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORY

The oldest evidence of human presence in the territory of Bra dates back to the Neolithic Age (6,000-3,500 BC), when its inhabitants basically lived on hunting and harvesting and gradually moved on to agriculture and breeding. Axes and hatchets in polished green stone were then used to cut down trees and create spaces for farming and grazing livestock.
With the Bronze Age (2,200-900 BC), an economy based on small villages and on a dense network of trades also on long distances, especially along river routes, was gradually established.  The pottery coming from Pollenzo and Racconigi dates back to the  Late Bronze Age (1,400-1,200 BC). At that time the formation process of the ethnic group of the Bagienni, main Ligurian group of the Cuneo area begins.
In the early Iron Age (900-500 BC)  a river trading route that connected the Etruscan centres in the  Emilia region to the mining areas of the Cozie Alps through the Po and Tanaro rivers began to develop. Two bronze finds of the territory of Pollenzo may be due  to contacts with the Etruscan world; the Belmonte type crescent-shaped  razor   and the impression of two-axe orthogonal blades (type known so far only in Sardinia and the Elba island ) They are evidence of trade with the Po Valley.
With the middle Iron Age (500-450 BC) a gradual penetration of transalpine populations determined the end of the commercial system and often the abandonment of the lowland settlements, originating the phenomenon of the castling which  typical of the second Iron Age (450-200 BC). The infiltration of Gallic influences in the Ligurian world is witnessed by the iron sword, coming from   the territory of Bra, it was found with the blade folded as part of the equipment of a cremation burial. Together with the shield and the spear it was one of the main  elements of the equipment of  Gaul warriors.

BELMONTE TYPE CRESCENT-SHAPED RAZOR


DISCOVER