Garda Research Group Ajàl Explores Local Archaeology and Heritage
They first worked for years, dividing their free time among research, excursions, and collaborations with other “trusted” groups. Then they decided to try “going independent,” to see if they could create something positive. The program can already be inferred from the very name of the association taking legal shape these days: “Ajàl.”
Origin and Objectives of the Association
It is the name of the ancient sites where charcoal was produced in the mountains. Depending on regional dialect and Venetian influence, some also call them ajàle or giàl. But the group’s choice fell on the more traditional term.
The objectives? “To conduct research of historical, ethnographic, faunal, botanical, and more generally cultural nature, on the territory of western Garda and in particular Gargnano and neighboring municipalities.”
The geographic focus was determined precisely by the core group initiating this research experience, mainly composed of Gargnano enthusiasts. The cultural association (whose founding assembly is scheduled for the coming days and whose future includes registration in the provincial and regional association registers) will be open to everyone, will have no profit motives, and will be ready to “identify and verify the presence, in the research area, of elements that could enhance the territory.”
Activities and Future Projects
A way, in short, to turn words into action, after long praising but significantly neglecting the territory, its natural riches, and historical traditions.
But who can turn to this association, which appears new only on the surface? Anyone wishing to reassess the vast high Garda areas that offer (and sometimes conceal) unknown treasures, which can be helped to resurface. It is precisely by explaining this concept that the interests of the initiative’s promoters emerge—they have been working in this direction for years and wish to offer others the same opportunity.
Specifically, it will involve giving a bit more organization to activities that many already carry out individually. Some examples? Some members of the new cultural association participated and contributed to recovering the remains of a brown bear in the caves of Monte Spino.
The bear bones will be incorporated into the new museum under construction in Tignale, operated by the Regional Forest Agency. Others collaborated with Professor Giampietro Brogiolo on research concerning Monte Castello di Gaino.
No professional work, perhaps—just labor. But it helped recover bricks and pottery sherds dating from between 460 and 520 AD, from the time of the wars between the Goths and Byzantines. The recovery of these artifacts (handed over to Brogiolo) supported the theories he presented at an archaeological conference in Gardone.
Other Discoveries and Researches Still to Be Explored
There’s more. Prehistoric flint tools, dating from approximately 7000 to 9000 years ago, have been found in the area between Gargnano and Toscolano. Given the variety in shape and use—points, micro-flints, burins, scrapers, blades ranging from 3 millimeters to 9 centimeters—these could help better define human presence in that distant period, immediately following the formation of Lake Garda after the Würm glaciation.
Undoubtedly, these findings require further analysis and comparison, but so far, the Archaeological Atlas of Lombardy does not identify any human settlement in the area where the flint tools were found—though a settlement might have existed there.
Another intriguing sector, which has already yielded many findings, concerns the recovery of fossils between 750 and 900 meters above sea level. These include ammonites and belemnites, dating about 150 million years back, from the Domerian age. The fossils have been examined by experts who confirmed the initial hypotheses.
Among the curious discoveries is also a small block of obsidian, the dark green or black volcanic “glass,” very sharp, typical of distant regions from Garda, and highly prized in antiquity: how it arrived here remains unknown.
These interests motivated the group of enthusiasts to formalize their work, aiming to develop a more structured collaboration and avoid uncoordinated searches for artifacts. In fact, besides already making their findings available to experts, the group’s dream is someday displaying the artifacts in an exhibition room or museum — accessible to everyone.