The prehistoric heritage: men and environment
Humans have lived in the Lessini territory since a very remote era, attracted to its abundance of natural caves, superficial water and a varied environment with its wealth of animals to hunt and prime quality flint stone.
There are many natural caves in the Waterfall Park and in some of them significant traces of nomadic hunter-gatherers dating back to 100.000 years ago have been found: our Neanderthal cousins first, then Homo sapiens (our species) more recently 40.000 years ago. Grotta di Fumane, a cave a few kms from Molina, is one of the most relevant and studied European prehistoric sites, frequented by both human species.
The event Prehistoric Nights, an extraordinary experience for 6 to 11 year olds, is an acknowledgement of our prehistoric ancestors’ fascination with this territory.
During the following millenniums, from the Neolithic period onwards, the rock shelters were used as more permanent settlements, as burial sites or perhaps, in the case of the majestic panoramic Coaloni rock shelter, as a viewpoint for controlling humans and animals passing through the valley below.
A selection of artifacts found during the excavations at Grotta di Fumane and other sites in the area are on show at the Palaeolontologic Museum in Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo, at the Natural History Civic Museum in Verona, at the National Archaeological Museum in Verona, at the MUSE in Trento and other museums in Italy and Europe.