Since 2000, the University of Verona, in agreement with the Veneto State Antiquity Office, has been engaged in a research project on the important Iron Age site of Oppeano, 20 km south of Verona.
Oppeano lies on a plateau of fluvial origin (at present only partially occupied by the modern small town), of the considerable size of 82 hectares.
All data collected during extensive surveys (2000-2003) and from excavation seasons (2003-2006) shows that there was widespread occupation on the plateau (typical of a unitary settlements) by the beginning of the Iron Age (second half of the 10th c. B.C.), even though some Final Bronze Age sherds collected in several fields could give an earlier date for the occupation of the area.
The particular methodology employed at Oppeano helps us to better understand the model of occupation of the major Venetian centres of Este and Padua, where the uninterrupted settlement history (in both cases the whole Iron Age site is situated in the modern city) is a serious obstacle to reconstructions.
The history of this important proto-urban centre, that lasted until the 3rd century B.C., demonstrates that the old theory of a “decalage” of the urbanization processes between Central and Northern Italy is no longer sustainable. (Alessandro Guidi)