New evidence of human frequentations in the western Alps: The project "Survey Alta Valsessera (Piedmont-Italy)"

The Sessera valley is an under-populated Italian alpine valley located in the north-eastern Piedmont (northwest Italy) between the provinces of Biella and Vercelli. We discuss the data obtained during the first and the second year of the project "Survey Alta Val Sessera" held in 2013 and in 2014 under the scientific direction of Soprintendenza Archeologia del Piemonte in collaboration with Associazione Culturale 3P - Progetto Preistoria Piemonte and DocBi - Centro Studi Biellesi that had as its main purpose the identification of new prehistoric human frequentations in the valley. The theoretical scheme employed starts from the one developed for Trentino and the South Tyrolean region (north-eastern Italy) by Broglio and Improta. During the campaigns, surveys in the Sessera and in the neighbouring Dolca valley have been carried out using the patterns of settlement and mobility in the alpine environment developed by Kompatscher and Kompatscher, in order to identify the most interesting areas to investigate. The most important results obtained during the first two survey campaigns indicate that the Sessera valley was occupied by human groups using knapped lithic industries made of local vein quartz. Another important result is the identification of a Late Ancient site located at high altitude (1642 m a.s.l.) along one of the ridge paths investigated. Even if the lithic findings have no diagnostic elements for a precise chronological positioning, the importance of the data obtained consists mainly in having successfully tested a method of research aimed at identifying human frequentations at high altitude in this part of Piedmont, where no comparable research has been carried out until now.