Bolzano/Athens, September, 1st 2026 – Andreas Putzer, archaeologist and curator at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, presented the results of a long-term museum research initiative on the Alpine cultural landscape of Schnalstal/Val Senales to an international specialist audience.
For around 15 years, Putzer has been investigating archaeological sites in Schnalstal/Val Senales and its side valleys. Taking the period in which Ötzi lived as his starting point, he explored when and how people used this Alpine environment.

At the 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) in Athens, he presented the comprehensive results of his research for the first time. His work focuses on hunting, trade, pastoral farming and dairy production. Excavations and archaeobotanical analyses have made it possible to reconstruct prehistoric economic practices and compare them with historical written sources.

From the Discovery of Ötzi to the Study of an Alpine Cultural Landscape
Traces of human presence dating from the Copper Age, the period in which Ötzi lived, are also known from the side valleys. Fireplaces and flint flakes produced during the manufacture of stone tools indicate that people stopped there to rest or spend the night before moving on. A newly discovered site dating from the fourth to third millennium BC points to longer stays in the high mountains.

The development of the cultural and economic landscape becomes more clearly discernible in the second millennium BC. As social and economic connections expanded, high-Alpine areas were increasingly used. Intensive use declined during the Roman period. It was not until the 11th and 12th centuries AD that the landscape began to be farmed more intensively again.

Putzer presented the results to the international specialist audience under the title ‘Harsh Environment, Tough People: Human Adaptation in the High-Alpine Valley of Schnals from Prehistory to Modern Times’. Particularly revealing was the comparison between the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, as well as the question of what conditions led people to make intensive use of remote and difficult-to-access high-mountain areas.

‘Schnalstal/Val Senales shows that high-Alpine landscapes were by no means merely remote peripheral areas. People used them repeatedly over thousands of years – at different times and for different reasons. Archaeological finds, plant remains and historical sources help us understand how flexibly people responded to the conditions of the high mountains,’ explained Andreas Putzer.

‘Research thrives on exchange. For us as a provincial museum of archaeology, it is essential not only to follow developments in archaeology, the natural sciences and conservation, but also to be part of international networks,’ said museum director Elisabeth Vallazza. ‘At the same time, we were able to place research from South Tyrol within a broader European context and contribute our experience to the professional debate.’

Photo: Andreas Putzer giving his presentation at the EAA in Athens © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology