Unesco
In June 2011, the transnational serial site involving Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia— Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps —was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, to ensure the preservation and enhancement of this fragile type of archaeological site. Covering a time span from the Early Neolithic to the Iron Age (5000–500 BC), it includes 111 sites, eight of which are located on Lake Garda or in its surrounding area. At Manerba, in the locality of San Sivino, lies the submerged site of Gabbiano.
The site
Discovered in 1971 during underwater research conducted by the Tritone Sub Club of Desenzano, the extensive settlement at San Sivino area was identified thanks to wooden piles driven into the lakebed. In the summer of 1973, the exceptionally low water level of the lake revealed a series of large stones arranged in a semicircle. In 1978, Lawrence H. Barfield surveyed the pile dwelling.
Today completely submerged, the area extended along a stretch of approximately 150 meters parallel to the shore, ranging between 10–15 meters and 40–50 meters from the shoreline. The settlement was quite extensive and likely supported a stable population of several dozen inhabitants. The piles, mainly made from oak trees aged 100–120 years, vary in diameter from 5 to 40 centimeters. During the research, various artifacts made of pottery, bronze, and stone were recovered, dating from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age (2100–1400 BC). These finds are comparable to specimens from contemporaneous pile-dwelling sites along the shores of lower Lake Garda and the Benaco area.
