An archaeological fortune
Sanzeno is one of the cornerstones of Trento’s archaeological history.
The morphological conditions of its land, which is located on a vast, sunny terrace, have encouraged man’s presence since ancient times. There have been a great many archaeological discoveries and research carried out in the area since as early as the second half of the 19th century. The first official find dates to 1846: a bronze statue depicting a warrior god of the 5th century B.C. that bears a votive inscription engraved on its base in the Rhaetian alphabet.
Afterwards several of the most extensive and fruitful excavations concerning the Province of Trento were carried out here. Materials and scientific data that have for some time been paradigmatic for everyone interested in Alpine prehistory and who are looking for interpretations of the conditions and identities of the ancient populations who lived in the fascinating and mysterious world of the Alps come from here.
The Rhaetian Museum
So it is not by pure chance that the Rhaetian Museum was established in Sanzeno.
Established by the Autonomous Province of Trento (above all with the backing of Gianni Ciurletti of the Archaeological Assets Office) and inaugurated in a non-definitive manner in 2003, the museum is a multipurpose centre devoted to archaeology and to the ancient history of Val di Non. It also offers itself as a place of research and scientific interchange.
The architectural facility, a work of Sergio Giovanazzi, is found north of the town of Sanzeno in Casalini.
The exhibition project is especially focused on the Rhaetia people who lived in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, the Tyrol and partly in Switzerland between approximately the 6th and 1st centuries B.C. Archaeologists have defined the culture expressed by these populations as “Fritzens-Sanzeno”, which corresponds to their area of diffusion. One of the places of highest value for the Rhaetian heritage is precisely Sanzeno, where the most important archaeological digs for the entire Alpine prehistory were carried out.
The museum itinerary starts with the discovery of the territory’s geological origins and with the earliest finds in the valley, and continues on as it dwells upon the Rhaetian civilisation and its customs in the economic, cultural and handicraft spheres, where - among other materials - the small votive bronzes stand out.
The museum route proceeds from the Rhaetian age to the Roman period, which today is mainly represented by the “Tabula Clesiana” with which Emperor Claudius granted Roman citizenship to the Anauni people. The display comes to an end with references to the valley’s evangelisation period (4th century A.D.) and to the first appearance of the barbarian populations that marked the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Among the original finds preserved today in the museum, which we can admire are:
- a stele statue of Revò (3000 B.C.)
- a Rhaetian key (with a small model of the door)
- a Rhaetian hoe
- several Fritzens-Sanzeno ceramic bowls
- three Rhaetian situlae
- two Roman statues of the 1st century A.D. coming from Smarano
- a set of funerary objects of the Roman age coming from Cloz
- several Roman coins and a fibula
- a few loom weights of the Roman age
A Rhaetian bronze depicting a horseman, which is the logo of the Sanzeno Museum, is of particular importance.