Lake evolution since the Bronze Age in the Lower Mincio River valley and the Forcello Etruscan harbour (Central Po plain)

The Etruscan harbour of Forcello in lower valley of the Mincio River, N-Italy, was active between the VI to IV centuries BC. The stratigraphic investigations revealed that the settlement occupied a hill on the shore of a large lake, connected to the Mantua perifluvial lake system. The lake formed between the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age in the embanked floor of the Mincio Valley, and persisted till the late Middle Age. The diversion of the Po River at Guastalla during the Iron Age is considered responsible for damming the Mincio River at its confluence.