“Loch von Gelt”: c'era una volta una “economia politica”.....:storie, leggende e favole padane di bassa (?) lega premonetale.

The article explores a variety of theoretical implications related to the notion of a fully implemented “political economy” for some rather punctuated jumps of social complexity in core-areas of the Late Bronze Age Terramare: the precursive“ AMPBV Phenomenon” in the Low Veronese Plain and its post-collapse successor (“The Frattesina Phenomenon”) in the low Po Plain. The research is related to two long-term pilot projects (in collaboration with a variety of institutions, such as Università di Roma-La Sapienza, University of Nottingham, Boston University, Center for Remote Sensing-Boston, Worcester University-Idrisi Lab-Mass-USA): a) The AMPBV Project (Alto-Medio Polesine – Basso-Veronese, aimed at the local Bronze Age, co-directed by the Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali di Padova and the University College don London); b) the “AD METALLA” Project (devoted to the Bronze Age mining and smelting on the Plateaux of Luserna-Vezzena- Lavarone- Province of Trento), co-directed the same dipt. and by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici ed Archeologici – Trento. The proposed explanatory scenario refers to an emerging domain of enquiry, that of the so called “emerging complexity” of ancient social systems. Within such a theoretical frame a specific, highly experimental approach is implemented, directed at exploring the underlying power dynamics (both up-bottom “dominance” and bottom-up “resistance”) and named “off-site Power”: this investigates the phenomenology of the LoPs (Landscapes of Power) starting from an off-site, basically infrastructural point of view and problem-oriented research.